After a gene from algae was added to his eye, a blind man can perceive objects

Botond Roska, professor at the University of Basel, led the research for a gene therapy to add light-sensing molecules to a patient’s retina, which has improved the patient’s sight significantly. In the journal Nature Medicine, the authors describe how their patient lost his vision after being diagnosed 40 years ago with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative disease that destroys photoreceptors (the light-sensing cells in the retina). The doctors employed gene therapy to add a light-sensing molecule to one of the man’s eyes. The gene they added, called chrimson, comes from a single-celled algae species that is able to sense sunlight and move toward it. The idea behind adding the gene, says Roska, is to engineer retina cells called ganglions so that they become able to respond to light, sending visual signals to the brain.

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