Sight Seen: Gene Therapy Restores Vision in Both Eyes: Scientific American - 0 views
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gene therapy to treat blindness in 12 adults and children with Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), a rare inherited eye disease that destroys vision by killing photoreceptors—light-sensitive cells in the retina at the back of the eye.
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genetic mutations in retinal cells. One mutated gene that causes the disorder is named RPE65. An enzyme encoded by RPE65 helps break down a derivative of vitamin A called retinol into a substance that photoreceptors need to detect light and send signals to the brain.
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improved as soon as two weeks after the operation: They could navigate an obstacle course, even in dim light, avoiding objects that had tripped them up before, as well as recognize people's faces and read large signs
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second round of gene therapy further strengthened the brain's response to the initially treated eye as well as the newly treated one
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visual cortex responding to the newly flowing channel of information from the second eye bolster activity in areas of the visual cortex responding to the initially treated eye.