StemCell Therapy

A Hungarian researcher has won theKrber Prize for European Science 2020 in Hamburg, Germany, earning him a1 million($1.18 million) check in the process.

Botond Roska, who works in the Swiss city of Basel, has uncovereda gene-based therapy that reprograms cells in the human eye so that they can perform the work of the light-sensitive receptors needed for human vision, according to the Krber Foundation that hands out the annual prize. It is hoped the procedure willreactivate the retinas of the blind.

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The medical scientist said that, for the time being,the processcreates a level of vision similarto watching television in black and white. Clinical testson blind volunteers are already underway as a result of the Budapest-born researcher's groundbreaking work.

"Roska's research has woken up hope that new treatment methods might restore the ability to see in the blind,"said Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher at theceremony on Monday.

The Krber Foundation's prize was first awarded in 1985, and it recognizesscientists whose work has applied futuristic techniques to physical sciences.

The son of a computer scientist and a pianist, Roska began his career in medicine "after a detour," said Tschentscher. The scientist first studied the cello at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, but had to give up the instrument following an injury. He thenbegan to pursue medicine and mathematics.

Last year's winner of the prestigious prize was German artificial intelligence scientistBernhard Schlkopf of the Max Planck Society.

jsi/dj (dpa, EPD)

Originally posted here:
Hungarian researcher wins award for procedure that could cure blindness - DW (English)

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