Doctors were able to partially restore vision to blind patients

A recent study using an innovative approach has allowed people suffering from severe visual impairment to regain partial vision.

All participants in the experiment had a diagnosed genetic disorder - retinitis pigmentosa, characterized by the death of photoreceptor elements of the mesh of the eye. Since mutations affecting more than a hundred genes are the cause of the disease, the researchers used optogenetic treatments that allow surviving neurons to respond again to light stimuli.

Around the world, retinitis pigmentosa occurs in one person out of every four thousand, and this disease systematically leads to blindness and loss of performance. First, in the early years of life, vision is impaired at dusk, and then the field of vision narrows. Previously, patients considered a cure impossible, but the success of bionics and genetic engineering give new prospects for the treatment of congenital disorders of the visual apparatus.

The technique involves integrating a gene injection with a specialized optical device. Three participants in the study, ten of them, underwent the procedure of introducing an altered viral vector into the eye. Thanks to this, the retina received the genetic information necessary for the synthesis of photoreceptive protein. In addition, glasses equipped with a video camera and a computing module were used. They monitor the level of illumination and direct light signals to the retina, thereby triggering the work of the synthesized protein. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers Botunda Roschka and Jose-Alain Sahel, commenting on the results of their work, emphasize that thanks to splashes at the desired wavelength, light is emitted that can launch a sensory protein introduced into the mesh cells using gene therapy, which allows it to return to light sensitivity.