Eye's Cubes

Sweeping a curve at the back of our eyes, the retina helps to capture light, studded with tiny photoreceptors which act like pixels in a camera sensor, but are often lost with age or disease leading to blindness. Here, researchers grow human stem cells inside an 'ice cube tray' design – an artificial scaffold where the cells change into retinal pigment epithelium cells and knit together in multiple layers – mimicking the healthy outer layers of the retina. Researchers hope to transplant these scaffolds into damaged eyes, letting the biodegradable trays crumble away while leaving a densely-packed bed of healthy cells behind to restore vision. Modified versions of these biocompatible scaffolds, built using a process called photolithography, may help in restoring or maintaining the function of other tissues, too.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image from work by In-Kyu Lee, Allison L. Ludwig, M. Joseph Phillips and Juhwan Lee, and colleagues
• University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
• Published in Science Advances, April 2021