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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Scientists have repaired the vision of children with cataracts [bbc.com] by removing the cataract while leaving the lens capsule and the stem cells contained within intact:

The technique developed by scientists at the Sun Yat-sen University and the University of California, San Diego removes the cloudy cataract from inside the lens via a tiny incision. Crucially it leaves the outer surface - called the lens capsule - intact. This structure is lined with lens epithelial stem cells, which normally repair damage. The scientists hoped that preserving them would regenerate the lens.

The team reported that tests on rabbits and monkeys were successful, so the approach was trialled in 12 children. Within eight months the regenerated lens was back to the same size as normal. [...] The procedure was tried in children because their lens epithelial stem cells are more youthful and more able to regenerate than in older patients. Yet the overwhelming majority of cataracts are in the elderly. Dr Zhang says tests have already started on older pairs of eyes and says the early research "looks very encouraging".

Lens regeneration using endogenous stem cells with gain of visual function [nature.com] (DOI: 10.1038/nature17181)

A separate study mentioned in the BBC article used stem cells to grow new eye tissues: Co-ordinated ocular development from human iPS cells and recovery of corneal function [nature.com] (DOI: 10.1038/nature17000)

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