IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa has been given $5 million for research into treatments of eye diseases that affect and blind people worldwide. The university in a news release Thursday that the gift comes from Alice and John Butler, of Dubuque. It will establish the Alice L. and John E. Butler Vision Research Fund, which will support gene- and stem cell-based treatments for degenerative retinal diseases.
The university’s stem cell transplantation program seeks to use stem cells from a patient’s own tissue, correct gene mutations, and transplant them into the patient’s retina to restore vision.