Scientists found a way to cure blindness with gene therapy

Blindness can be cured by using gene therapy to reprogram cells in the retina to enable these cells to "light up".

This is a new study of scientists from Oxford University (UK) published on October 3.

Genetic diseases of retinal degeneration such as retinitis pigmentosa may impair vision and lead to blindness. This is the most common cause of blindness among young people.

Retinal degeneration is the most common cause of blindness among young people.

However, even if eyesight is poor, the retina remains intact, cells that are unable to receive light stimulation.

A team of Oxford University scientists used a genetically modified virus to implant a new gene that regulates the production of proteins capable of receiving light stimulation of melanopsin into the cells in blind mice due to pigment retinitis and tracking these mice for more than 1 year. They found that during this time, these mice saw objects around them.

According to scientists, melanopsin-cultured cells have the ability to receive stimulation of light and transmit visible signals to the brain, from which the mice have returned.

According to the lead author of the study, Samantha de Silva, "there are many blind patients and helping them see back with gene therapy is making us very excited. Our next step will be Clinical trials of this therapy in humans ".