Gene therapy restores partial vision in people with inherited blindness

Scientists have used gene therapy to restore some vision in people who were born blind, according to results published in 2024. In one trial, nine patients with an inherited eye condition received gene therapy. Two of them saw 10,000 times better afterwards. A separate trial treated ten patients using a method called optogenetics. Doctors injected instructions for a light-sensitive protein, taken from algae, into each patient's eye. This made certain eye cells able to detect light. Seven of the ten patients showed improvement. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania also used a gene-editing tool called CRISPR to help patients with a different inherited condition. All of these diseases were previously impossible to treat.