In August 2013, the first human pilot safety clinical trial using these autologous iPSCs has been launched in Japan. Here, fibroblasts were used as a somatic cell source from patients suffering from wet age-related macular degeneration. This disease is marked by blood vessels growth up from the choroid behind the retina, which can lead to a detachment of the retina and causes the loss of vision in the centre of the visual field (macula). The mostly elderly patients suffer from visual impairment, although enough peripheral vision remains [40].
