Many Science related Newsgroups are posting about how British scientists say they have developed a stem procedure that will reverse the most common cause of blindness, age-related macular degeneration. The new treatment for the most common form of blindness, age-related macular degeneration or AMD, should be available in six to seven years as a one-hour, possibly out-patient procedure.

The science newsgroups report that the procedure, pioneered by the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London and Moorfields eye hospital, involves replacing a layer of degenerated eye cells with new ones obtained from embryonic stem cells. The new treatment centres on human embryonic stem cells grown in a laboratory. These are ‘blank’ cells with the power to turn into different cell types and are used to create small patches identical to the cells damaged in the eyes of AMD sufferers.

The improvement is likely to be great enough to transform lives, allowing the blind to regain the ability to carry out everyday tasks such as reading or driving.

This week Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical research company, will announce its financial backing to bring the therapy to patients. AMD supposedly affects over 500,000 people in Britain and with a cure it can significantly increase the lives of the people who have the disease and make their life easier. The controversial embryonic stem cells will be transformed into the eye cells lost in the patients.