[SHT] Puppy Dog Eyes

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Current News : One Thread

Puppy Dog Eyes, by Anne Petrov, 365Gay.com Science Editor

In an amazing breakthrough scientists have created sight. They injected new genes into the eyes of blind dogs and gave them sight for the first time.

The procedure, they believe, could be used to bring vision to children who have been blind since birth.

The researchers led by University of Pennsylvania researchers produced sight in three puppies that were genetically blind from birth. It is the first time that congenital blindness has been reversed in an animal larger than a mouse. The researchers replaced a mutant gene that caused blindness with a gene that they had created in a lab.

Within a few weeks after the injection, the dogs could see enough to follow human movement and to negotiate a path around furniture.

Dr. Jean Bennett of the Scheie Eye Institute told ABC news in the US he did not expect such a spectacular result.

"We were really very, very excited when we first got a glimmer that we had actually restored vision to these dogs which had been previously blind."

Bennett said the findings have implications for the nearly 10,000 people with a genetic disease called Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), the same disease that caused the blindness in the dogs. It could also help hundreds of thousands of others with similar forms of blindness.

Over time, the retina deteriorates and becomes dysfunctional in people with this disorder, so scientists say children would be the most likely beneficiaries of the gene therapy. Children with LCA are destined to a life of blindness: they will use guide dogs and read and write in Braille.

There is a lot to be done first before researchers can advance to human trials, said Dr. Gregory Acland, a research veterinarian at Cornell University. Acland says he expects it will take about four years to get to that point.

Researchers have to look at a variety of factors. Human vision is different from dog vision. Researchers would also have to determine the dose, and the frequency of the treatments for humans.

Though a rare condition, LCA is one of the most severe blinding diseases because it affects children, and has a number of other symptoms, such as roving eye movement and inability to look in one place.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2001


Moderation questions? read the FAQ