Lab grown ’mini eyes’ help understanding of blindness in rare genetic condition

mini eyes - Researchers at UCL have grown 'mini eyes', which make it possible to study and better understand the development of blindness in Usher syndrome for the first time. The 3D 'mini eyes', known as organoids, were grown from stem cells generated from skin samples donated by patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH). In a healthy eye, rod cells - the cells that detect light - are arranged in the back of the eye in an important region responsible for processing images called the retina. The new research, published in Stem Cell Reports, found that it is possible to get rod cells to organise themselves into layers that mimic their organisation in the retina - producing a 'mini eye'. This could be an important step forward, as previous research using animal cells was unable to mimic the same sort of sight loss as that seen in Usher syndrome. Usher syndrome is the most common genetic cause of combined deafness and blindness, affecting approximately three to ten in 100,000 people worldwide. Children with Type 1 Usher syndrome are often born profoundly deaf, while their sight slowly deteriorates until they are blind by adulthood.