As scientists explore ways to use genetic engineering to battle blindness, it’s obvious that gene therapy has gotten more sophisticated.
In traditional gene therapy, scientists “fix” a broken gene by supplying a healthy version to affected cells. Researchers have used this type of gene therapy to treat many diseases, including, as Tina Hesman Saey reports, a rare form of inherited blindness. But that’s an option for only a select few. Saey describes a new technique that could potentially benefit many more people. It doesn’t “fix” a broken gene but rather re-engineers the eye. Transforming nearby nerve cells into cells able to detect light can bypass damaged rods and cones and still get a message to the visual part of the brain.