Researchers led by Michiko Mandai at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have used a genetic modification to improve human-derived retina transplants grown in the lab. After transplant into damaged mouse retinas, timed removal of certain cells from the grafts allowed better connections to host retinas, which resulted in more responsiveness to light in the damaged eyes. Because the retinal sheets were generated from stem cells of human origin, this represents one of the final steps necessary before this technique can be tested in human clinical trials for repairing retinal degeneration. The study was published in the scientific journal iScience.