Gene
Researchers find potential new gene therapy for blinding disease
Scientists funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) report a novel gene therapy that halts vision loss in a canine model of a blinding condition called autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP). The strategy could one day be used to slow...
NEI funded researchers identify 133 genetic variants that predict glaucoma risk
Researchers funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) have identified 133 genetic variants that predict with 75-percent accuracy a person’s risk for developing glaucoma related to elevated pressure within the eye. Future genetic tests could...
Gene Therapy Staves Off Blindness from Retinitis Pigmentosa in Canine Model
Gene therapy preserved vision in a study involving dogs with naturally occurring, late-stage retinitis pigmentosa, according to research funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The findings...
Scientists Test New Gene Therapy for Vision Loss From a Mitochondrial Disease
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a novel mouse model for the vision disorder Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), and found that they can use gene therapy to improve visual function in the mice. LHON is...
Dr. Patricia Cabrera: Learning Genetics and Linking NEI to the Philippines
A delegation from the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Philippine National Institutes of Health recently visited NEI on May 21, 2015. It was an opportunity to renew old collaborations and discuss new ones—among them, genetic research...
NEI Human Gene Therapy Trial for Retinoschisis Underway
The National Eye Institute (NEI) recently launched the first-ever human gene therapy trial for the vision disorder X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS). Researchers are conducting the trial at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Research Center...
NIH study reveals gene critical to the early development of cilia
Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have described the functions of a gene responsible for anchoring cilia — sensory hair-like extensions present on almost every cell of the body. They show in a mouse model that without the gene...
Gene Transfer for Leber Congenital Amaurosis
Two groups of investigators have reported independently on their initial observations from Phase I clinical trials of gene transfer for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) caused by mutations in the RPE65 gene. The two papers appear in the April 27...
Statement on Clinical Trial of Gene Transfer Therapy for Childhood-Onset Blindness
The National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is supporting a phase I clinical trial to assess the safety of gene transfer in treating people with a form of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). People with the LCA...
NEI Grantee Ronald Davis Honored for Genetic Research
Ronald Davis, Ph.D., an NEI grantee and a geneticist at Stanford University School of Medicine, has been selected to receive an award from the Warren Alpert Foundation.
Dr. Davis will share the prize with his Stanford colleague David...