On the Radar

The pick of the science news

Embryonic stem cell trial to treat sight loss

US biotech company Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) announced this week that it has FDA clearance to carry out what they state is “the first clinical trial using embryonic stem cells to treat macular degeneration”.

The proposed trial will target Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy, a juvenile and progressive form of sight loss where light-sensitive RPE cells die off at the back of the eye.

“Using stem cells, we can generate a virtually unlimited supply of healthy RPE cells, which are the first cells to die off in SMD and other forms of macular degeneration,” said Dr Robert Lanza from ACT in a statement.

Cancer’s DIY blood supply

Some tumours have the capacity to grow their own blood supply, according to two new studies highlighted this week in Nature. For a tumour, getting sufficient blood to nourish it can be a key step in its progress. So therapies have been zoning in on trying to stop the patient’s body from making blood vessels to serve the cancer, and thereby help to choke its growth.

However the new research, carried out in Italy and the US, identified how tumours of a type of brain cancer called glioblastoma can have the capacity to generate their own blood vessels themselves.

By numbers

3The number of astronauts due to return to Earth this week from the International Space Station. They include Douglas Wheelock, who has been posting eye-catching images of the planet (pictured) taken from the ISS to his Twitter account, @Astro_Wheels