Gene therapy cures blindness in dogs.Three dogs with congenital blindness can now see, thanks to gene therapy. By injecting each dog behind one of its retinas with a virus carrying replacement DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. , researchers have reversed the effects of a mutation in the RPE RPE Retinal Pigment Epithelium RPE Rating of Perceived Exertion (exercise) RPE Respiratory Protective Equipment RPE Regular Pulse Excitation RPE Registered Professional Engineer RPE Rapid Palatal Expansion 65 gene. A mutation in this gene also causes human blindness. Those with the condition are blind from birth. Ten months alter treatment, the dogs can see up to 40 percent as well in the treated eye as normal dogs do, the researchers report in the May NATURE GENETICS. The rare form of blindness, called Leber congenital amauosis, stems from mutations in any of three genes. RPE65 normally encodes a protein needed to translate images into nerve impulses nerve impulse n. A wave of physical and chemical excitation that moves along a nerve fiber in response to a stimulus. that the brain can process. "We're all very excited about this, cautiously excited," says study coauthor Jean Bennett of the University of Pennsylvania (body, education) University of Pennsylvania - The home of ENIAC and Machiavelli. http://upenn.edu/. Address: Philadelphia, PA, USA. in Philadelphia. Before testing the therapy in people, the researchers need to determine whether the dogs' newfound new·found adj. Recently discovered: a newfound pastime. Adj. 1. newfound - newly discovered; "his newfound aggressiveness"; "Hudson pointed his ship down the coast of the newfound sea" sight is permanent. |
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