Tear Gland Dysfunction Leads To Blindness

Scientists have used stem cells to grow tear glands and successfully transplanted them into mice. This scientific advancement could help individuals with tear duct conditions such as Sjögren’s syndrome and dry-eye syndrome. Tear gland dysfunction leads to blindness in severe cases. Tears lubricate our eyes; when eyes are too dry, it can cause ulceration of the cornea.

“The chemical message that comes from the neurons to your tear glands is adrenaline. So, to really show that we had functional tear glands, we needed to show that they would respond to adrenaline,” said Professor Hans Clevers.

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“Crying human tear glands grown from stem cells”