Can We Reverse Blindness?

By Samantha Rose Almeida.

Without sight, people are unable to experience the intricacies of some of life’s many pleasures. People around the world are being left blind due to retinal degeneration. However, is there a way help reverse these symptoms? A new study completed through the research team at the University of California, Berkeley might hold the answer to this question.

The research was run on mice. The concept was relatively simple. The research team took a group of blind mice and inserted a gene for a green-light receptor into the eyes via a virus.  Within a month of observation, these mice were able to discern patterns on an iPad at a resolution sufficient for humans to read. They were able to see motion, brightness changes, and fine detail on an iPad.

These new findings are groundbreaking when thought of on the scale of humans. ‘”You would inject this virus into a person’s eye and, a couple months later, they’d be seeing something,” said Ehud Isacoff, a UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology and director of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. “With neurodegenerative diseases of the retina, often all people try to do is halt or slow further degeneration. But something that restores an image in a few months — it is an amazing thing to think about.”’ In the past, people who dealt with retinal degeneration had only one option, which were electronic eye implants. This method is not very efficient, is very invasive, and is not the best in terms of cost. With this new treatment, people will be able to be cured with a method as simple as getting a flu shot. Well, a flu shot in one’s eyeball… but this is still miles simpler than the invasive surgery of replacing a person’s eye with an electronic one.

Based on this study and the existing AAV eye therapies that have already been approved, this new therapy could be ready for clinical trials in three years. This means that in at least three years, there will be a cheaper, less invasive solution to retinal degeneration. This is an amazing step in medicine!