Advances in Ocular Gene Therapy

Congratulations to Prof Robert MacLaren and his team of research scientists in Oxford who this week announced success in partially reversing an inherited and previously untreatable eye condition via gene therapy.

Choroideremia is a genetically aquired defect which progressively induces sight loss. It is rare affecting 1 in 50,000 people (mainly men). Prof MacLaren said that the six patients taking part in the trial had all surpassed expectations in terms of an improvent in visual acuity.

It is hoped that the findings of the Oxford team will provide a gateway to the advancement of gene therapy and possibly hold the key to the prevention of sight loss in other common retinal conditions such as Age Related Macula Degeneration (ARMD).