London - A cure for blindness could be on the horizon after a pioneering British treatment produced astonishing results.
Five men have been prevented from going blind after having the gene therapy - and some can see better than before. One can see the stars in the night sky again while another can read numbers on his mobile phone.
Excitingly, the eye op is still working up to four years on - raising hopes that one treatment could last a lifetime. If it starts early enough, it may even be possible to stop vision ever deteriorating.
Those treated so far have a rare condition called choroideremia. But the technique, developed with NHS funding, is being adapted to treat other conditions including age-related macular degeneration, the most common form of blindness in the elderly.
Robert MacLaren, the Oxford University surgeon who led the trial, said: “This is the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for.”
Choroideremia occurs when a missing gene leads to cells at the back of the eye dying. The treatment involves injecting billions of copies of the gene into the eye.
Dr Stephen Caddick of the Wellcome Trust, which part-funded the research, said: “To permanently restore sight to people with inherited blindness would be a remarkable achievement.”
Daily Mail