Skip to main content
News Icon

News categories: Honors & Funding

Patent-Prize awarded for programing of stem cells into Photoreceptors

Discovery and utilization of three different transcription factors enables the directed differentiation of human stem cells into photoreceptors

Prof. Volker Busskamp, Member of the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2, is awarded with the Patent-Prize of the German Ophthalmological Society for his work on photoreceptors. The Biotechnologist and his team developed a technology, which allows the rapid programming of human stem cells to become photoreceptors. The resulting cells are used in retinal research and shall serve in clinical application to treat blindness in the near future.

Photoreceptors are sensory cells of the eye, located in the retina. They enable seeing by detection of the incoming light and its translation into electrochemical signals. Degeneration or loss of photoreceptor cells, as in macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa or retinal detachment, leads to vision impairment or even blindness.

Volker Busskamp and his team established a reliable method to quickly generate photoreceptor cells, which was now awarded with the Patent-Prize of the German Ophthalmological Society. The award honors inventions with patent pending and supports outstanding concepts in Ophthalmology.

The awarded method is based on the discovery and utilization of three different transcription factors, which induce the differentiation of human stem cells into photoreceptors. In the Petry-dish, the cells grow into light-sensitive receptor cells within several days. The method allows for the generation of vast amounts of cell material. This is of particular relevance, as the retina itself does not possess any regenerative potential. The possibility to generate human photoreceptors in the Petry-dish hence opens new prospects in basic research, drug screening, but also clinical application: The possible utilization of the photoreceptors in photoreceptor-replacement therapy is already under investigation.

Prof. Busskamp and his team are involved in the technology transfer supported by a ‘proof-of-concept’ grand of the European Research Council. In the end, a biomedical application of human stem cells programmed into photoreceptors is supposed to be part of an innovative therapy to treat all sorts of photoreceptor-degeneration associated diseases.


Contact

Prof. Dr. Volker Busskamp

Universitäts-Augenklinik Bonn

Tel.: +49 228 287-13687

E-Mail: volker.busskamp(at)ukbonn.de


Related news

Speakers of ImmunoSensation

News categories: Honors & Funding

ImmunoSensation goes into the next round

The Bonn Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation will be funded for further seven years as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments. The aim of the new funding period, which begins on January 1, 2026, is to research immune diversity: the structural, functional and dynamic diversity of the immune system. Involved are the University of Bonn, the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). The funding amounts to around 50 million euros.
View entry
Kerstin Ludwig

News categories: Honors & Funding

Genome data to improve diagnosis and treatment of long Covid

Despite the many advances, there are still major gaps in the care of patients with long-term and post-COVID. The Institute of Human Genetics at the UKB in Bonn now begins a genomLC study as part of a BMG funding priority. The researchers want to help speed up the diagnosis of long- and post-COVID and identify possible biomarkers that could possibly also differentiate between subgroups of the diseases. To this end, the genomic data of those affected is being analyzed as part of a study using blood samples. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) with 1.34 million euros.
View entry
Reckzeh News

News categories: Honors & Funding

Creating Personalized Cancer Treatments

Bonn researchers aim to improve colon cancer treatment using 3D organoids and digital twins. Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), a collaborative project involving the University of Bonn, the company ESQlabs and the University Hospital Bonn is seeking to refine the therapy recommendations given to colon cancer patients. To this end, “ISPOT-K” is merging organoids taken from patients with the power of digital twin technology.
View entry

Back to the news overview