China-US team uses stem cells in cataract treatment

Researchers in China and the United States have developed a new cataract treatment with stem cells that has restored vision in infants in a trial and may eventually be used in adults.

The treatment - by doctors and staff members at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Sichuan and Sun Yat-sen universities in China - was published in the March 9 edition of the scientific journal Nature.

A cataract is a clouding of the normally clear lens of an eye. Typical cataract surgery involves the removal of the cloudy lens and the insertion of an artificial one.