Engineering Human Retinal Organoids and Eye-on-a-Chip Models for Degenerative Eye Disease

Degenerative eye diseases are major causes of irreversible vision loss worldwide, but effective treatments remain limited, partly due to the lack of effective human models. Retinal organoids derived from stem cells can recapitulate key structural and physiological features of the human retina, offering powerful tools to study disease mechanisms and develop new therapies. Here, we review recent progress in engineering retinal organoids and eye-on-a-chip models for modeling degenerative eye diseases, with a focus on engineering innovations. We first describe conventional methods for organoid differentiation and characterization along with current outstanding challenges. To better engineer retinal organoids, new strategies that leverage microfluidics and biomaterials have emerged to regulate dynamic and physiologically relevant environments for organoid differentiation. Moreover, the integration of artificial intelligence, multimodal sensing, and data analytics improves the monitoring and prediction of retinal function and therapeutic outcomes. Finally, we discuss future directions in innovating next-generation retinal organoid and eye-on-a-chip models for disease modeling, drug discovery, and vision restoration, highlighting their potential for precision ophthalmology.