Eyes grown in lab

BOFFINS grew eyes in a lab to research a rare disease that causes blindness.

They created the mini peepers from stem cells as they investigated Usher syndrome, the leading cause of deaf-blindness.

A team at University College Great Ormond Street grew “3D organoids” using samples from patients at the London hospital. Research associate Dr Yeh Chwan Leong said the breakthrough meant they could now work on “lab-grown retina with the same DNA, and therefore same genetic conditions, as our patients” and “further our understanding of such eye conditions”.