New gene treatments help restore sight to blind people

US scientists on Dec. 8 have developed a new gene therapy method that successfully restores the sense of light in blind mice as well as restores light reflection to the retina. degradation in dogs, laying the foundation for future screening and treatment of human eye degeneration.

According to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new method uses a virus to inject a gene for an ion channel into blind cells of the retina that remain active after the antiparticles. light radiation and cone light stimulation cells are damaged by eye diseases.

Photo: time.com

Scientists then put the optical switch (Photoswitch) , a chemical that changes shape when exposed to light, attaches to the upper ion channel to help this channel open when light hits, click activates retinal cells and restores the sense of light.

After experimenting with new treatments, the labyrinth pathway test showed that blind mice could restore vision to nearly the same level as normal mice.

In addition, the study also shows that this new method is similarly effective for degenerative retinal restoration in two species of rats and dogs, opening up the potential for application to blind people because dogs are species. has corneal structure very similar to human.

The research team said the treatment method has many advantages compared to the currently applied visual recovery measures. It uses a virus certified by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in eye treatments, helping to establish an ion channel similar to humans and can be easily reversed and adjusted. through changing optical switches.

Scientists say they will continue to study the effectiveness of the treatment in both dogs and mice to improve the performance of optical switches and develop methods of attaching optical switches to muscles. Other receptors, including organs, can magnify signals and allow subjects to receive even weak light.