Exotic Zebrafish May Help Cure Some Cases of Blindness

British researchers have been studying how thewould have to be typed for a certain kind of cell
zebrafish has a great supply of adult stem cells toline.
regenerate their retinas.All in all, very interesting and progressive studies
Basically, with nearly every disease of the eyeand treatments.
there is neuron damage. The retina is the part ofHow amazing would it be to regain your sight? Or
the eye that sends messages to the brain, andto discover sight after a lifetime of blindness?
damage to the retina is found to be the reasonWhat a wonderful gift to mankind!
for most cases of sight loss. The researchersZebrafish:
have successfully grown, and tested in rats, theThe zebra fish has 2 common names: Zebra
adult stem cells, such as those found in theDanio, and Zebra Fish
zebrafish, that develop into neurons in the retina.They are from the family: Cyprinidae
The University College London's Institute ofThere are 2 types of the zebrafish, one of which
Ophthalmology believes that these adult stem cellsis a freshwater variety, the other is a saltwater
from the zebrafish could be injected into the eyespecies in the genus Pterois of the family
as a treatment for diseases such as macularScorpaenidae.
degeneration, diabetes-related blindness, andThe freshwater type is a classic aquarium fish,
glaucoma (Limb, Astrid 2007).and is originally from Asia (Eastern India from
These researchers seem to be aiming for theseCalcutta to Masuilpatam).
experimental human treatments within the next 5According to About.com, females are larger, fuller
yrs.bodied, and have more subdued colors with
Apparently, these types of cell were easily grownsilvery-white back-ground. Males have red lines
in the lab, and they hope to eventually have stembetween the wider blue lines with a golden-yellow
cell banks, and have cell lines available to theback-ground.
general public. As with blood transfusions, a person