What disability did Melbourne researchers cure in animal trials?

Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, regrew corneal cells on a layer of film and implanted that film in the eye of blind animals, restoring vision. Human trials, scheduled to begin next year, represent an opportunity to supplement the short supply of corneas given by donors each year. Vision loss affects about 10 million people worldwide, while corneal transplants happen at a much smaller scale due to that short supply.

“We believe that our new treatment performs better than a donated cornea," said Berkay Ozcelik, a researcher at the University of Melbourne who developed the film, "and we hope to eventually use the patient’s own cells, reducing the risk of rejection.”