An experimental gene therapy has helped restore partial vision to people with congenital retinal disease, according to breakthrough studies which provides hope for treating various eye illnesses.
Clinical trials showed success on three young adults at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who suffered from a rare and as yet incurable form of congenital blindness.
"This result is important for the entire field of gene therapy," study leader Katherine High was quoted as saying in the New England Journal of Medicine whose website reported the findings by a collection of international doctors and scientists. Scientists used a genetically engineered virus as a vector to carry millions of copies of a normal version of the gene known as RPE65 to the patients' retina via surgical procedures performed between October 2007 and January 2008.
A mutation of this gene that normally makes a protein needed by the retina which senses light and sends images to the brain, is responsible for a gradual loss of sight.
About two weeks after the surgery all three patients reported improved vision in the injected eye.
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