Stem cell therapies in Italy have been repairing eye damage due to chemical burns and such since the mid 1990's. In Italy this is considered tested science at this point.

http://www.cbc.ca...eye.html

-- two web pages i looked up really quick. After Bush's stem cell ban we in America are playing catch up. But because of Bush's ban, we have figured out tons of ways to create stem cells from other sources. Which is a plus. We can make them, while everyone else uses them.

I realize the article is on optic nerve regeneration, which the Italians have not studied their treatment only works for cornea damage, not optic nerve or retina.

This is a fantastic breakthrough, and presumably can be applied to any afferent or efferent pathways, holding equal promise for paralytics or those with congenital afflictions.

The need to deactivate PTEN - a key tumour suppressor - seems slightly disconcerting, but just as a proof of principle; this is functional neurogenesis of a major sensory pathway, a landmark development...