London: Researchers at the University of Manchester have discovered a technique that could restore vision in patients who are blind from a condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa, an inherited condition, which affects one in 4,000 people and for which there is currently no effective treatment.
Paul Bishop, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Manchester, a key researcher on the study said: "I am very excited by the potential of this technology to re-establish vision in patients who have little or no vision.
"Thousands of patients could have their sight restored every year."
The disease, which often affects children and young people, progressively destroys light receptors at the back of the eye that are essential to vision.
It is a progressive disease and sufferers usually first notice increasing difficulty in night vision, followed by difficulty seeing in the periphery and poor colour perception.
Slowly progressive constriction of their visual field leads to tunnel vision and often eventually results in blindness.
The breakthrough, which uses a technique called optogenetics, involves injecting a key gene into the eye which converts other - non light receptor cells called neuronal cells - into light receptors.
The gene therapy involves the use of a specially designed virus to carry the DNA instructions for the rhodopsin light-sensing protein into these neuronal cells.
Laboratory trials show these neuronal cells can then able to successfully pick up light and transmit signals to the brain, returning some form of sight.
This is the first time the green light has been given for research to be carried out on human patients.
QNA
