Gene discovery could hold hope for night blindness

An international team of researchers have used advances in stem cell transplantation and gene therapy to identify a gene that could be responsible for some cases of human night blindness.

Leber’s congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a group of hereditary retinal diseases that result in severe loss of vision in early childhood and is estimated to affect around 1 in 80,000 of the population. According to the University of Bristol, recent gene therapy clinical trials for LCA have shown early promising results but improvements are generally temporary.

Stem cell transplantation in patients with a range of inherited and acquired retinal disorders is also undergoing clinical trials and the results have shown encouraging results in animal models.