Gene therapy: why new technique gives hope to the blind

Researchers partly reverse inherited and previously untreatable eye disease using gene therapy

Eye
(Image credit: AFP/Getty Images)

SCIENTISTS at Oxford University have used gene therapy to improve the vision of six people who would have otherwise gone blind – a breakthrough that could potentially help thousands of people suffering an inherited form of blindness.

Professor Robert MacLaren, the surgeon who led the research, said he was "absolutely delighted" and that his team "could not have asked for a better result". So how does the technique work and who might it be able to help?

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