Flexible Adult Stem Cells, Right There in Your Eye

Researchers reporting in the January issue of Cell Stem Cell, a Cell Press publication, have identified adult stem cells of the central nervous system in a single layer of cells at the back of the eye. That cell layer, known as the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), underlies and supports photoreceptors in the light-sensitive retina. Without it, photoreceptors and vision are lost. “You can get these cells from a 99-year-old,” said Sally Temple of the Neural Stem Cell Institute in Rensselaer, New York. “These cells are laid down in the embryo and can remain dormant for 100 years. Yet you can pull them out and put them in culture and they begin dividing. It is kind of mind boggling.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120105131637.htm