Fresh trials show that gene therapy can be specifically effective in treating inherited sight problems in children.
 
12 patients being treated by US doctors with a rare genetic eye disorder were able to strikingly improve vision in the youngest.
 
The study further elaborates work carried out by doctors at London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital. Gene therapy is proving to be especially successful for eye.
 
The principle is as simple as replacing a defective gene and restore function to one part of the body which is affected by a genetic disorder.
 
The focus of the treatment has been on a rare inherited disorder which causes slow deterioration in vision and can lead to blindness when the patient reaches 20.
 
A team at the Institute of ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London has already successfully deployed gene therapy.
 
The eye seems to be an attractive target for these new treatments since genes are contained in a harmless virus which is usually not attacked by the body as the immune system is not strong in the retina.
 
Professor Robin Ali of the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, who has led the British trials, said the latest study was "very encouraging". “The findings provide further evidence that gene therapy can be safe and can improve retinal sensitivity, particularly in dim light, even when a relatively small area of retina is treated”.