Scientists in Europe and the US recruited a man who had lost his sight due to an inherited photoreceptor disease 40 years ago and began treating him with optogenetic techniques. Reuters/File
PARIS: Scientists have for the first time managed to partially restore the sight of a blind patient by altering his cells, according to the results of a groundbreaking study published on Monday.
The technique known as optogenetics, which has been developed in the field of neuroscience over the last 20 years, involves genetically altering cells so they produce more light-sensitive proteins.
In some cases of blindness, known as inherited photoreceptor diseases, light-sensing cells in the retina that use proteins to deliver visual information to the brain via the optic nerve progressively degenerate.
Breakthrough treatment partially restores vision in man who was blind for 40 years Patient in France shows visual improvement after light-activated gene therapy
Tue, May 25, 2021, 07:47 Updated: Tue, May 25, 2021, 08:27
Several months after the treatment, the patient (58) was able to recognise, count, locate and touch different objects with the treated eye while wearing a pair of light-stimulating goggles. Photograph: Sahel et al/Nature Medicine via New York Times
A 58-year-old blind man has been able to experience partial recovery of vision in one eye with the help of a breakthrough treatment using genetic engineering and light-activated therapy.
The patient, who is based in France, was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a neurodegenerative eye disease that affects the retina at the back of the eye and stops it from working, almost 40 years ago.
Optogenetic therapy used to partially restore vision in a blind person
Shane McGlaun - May 25, 2021, 8:19am CDT
The manipulation of proteins in cells inside the body using light is called optogenetic therapy and was first developed in the early 2000s. Its development resulted in several significant discoveries about the inner working of the human brain and was actively researched in animals. Since most of the research using the technique was focused on animal trials, functional improvement using optogenetic therapy was never reported in humans.
Improvement in humans has now been reported in a new paper published by a group of scientists from the University of Pittsburgh and other institutions around the world. The study describes the first time a patient has achieved partial functional recovery from a neurodegenerative disease using optogenetic treatments. In this case, a blind patient partially recovered their vision after treatment.
AFP/ MANILA BULLETIN
The technique known as optogenetics, which has been developed in the field of neuroscience over the last 20 years, involves genetically altering cells so they produce more light-sensitive proteins.
In some cases of blindness, known as inherited photoreceptor diseases, light-sensing cells in the retina that use proteins to deliver visual information to the brain via the optic nerve progressively degenerate.
Scientists in Europe and the US recruited a man who had lost his sight due to an inherited photoreceptor disease 40 years ago and began treating him with optogenetic techniques.
This involved injections in his eye and several months of stimulation with light emitting goggles, which transformed images of the visual world into light pulses projected into the retina in real time.
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