© Times OnlineA false-colour photo of an eight-cell embryo
British scientists will apply this year to start patient trials of an embryonic stem-cell therapy for the commonest cause of blindness.
If approved, the study will be the second of its kind, after US regulators yesterday cleared the first human trial of the powerful master cells. The US decision to approve the trial of a paralysis treatment by the Geron Corporation will open the way for a team at University College London to test a similar therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) on patients.
Pete Coffey, of UCL, who is leading the project, said that the approval of the paralysis trial was "bloody good news".
"It clearly gives a lot of direction to our regulators. It is a precedent of sorts. Our therapy is now very advanced. We are now into the final stages of preclinical work-up. We're already in discussions with the regulatory authorities in the UK, and the fact that Geron's trial is going forward makes the process, I hope, more achievable. We will be making an application later this year, and I would hope we'll go into patient trials some time in 2010 or 2011."
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