In a conference held in Edinburgh titled “Eye Development and Degeneration 2017”, scientists said that they have identified chemical changes in the eye that can lead to blindness. Their findings aid understanding of a genetic condition that causes sight loss for one in 3,000 people in the UK.
Scientists examined how changes in a gene known as RPGR damage eye cells to cause a disorder known as X-linked retinitis pigmentosa. The condition is incurable and affects night and peripheral vision before gradually causing blindness in middle age.
Dr Roly Megaw from the University of Edinburgh’s Medical Research Council Institute for Genetics and Molecular Medicine, who led the study, said: “By furthering our understanding of the RPGR gene and its effects on photoreceptor cells, we hope our findings bring us closer to developing a possible treatment for this devastating disease.”
Source: University of Edinburgh. (2017, September 6). Blindness study shows how gene causes middle-age sight loss. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
