Stem Cells May Hold The Key To Fixing A Mutated Gene That Causes Blindness

Health and Medicine





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Researchers at the University of Cape Town trying to understand the mutation in the gene that causes night blindness, loss of peripheral vision and eventual blindness. Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Stem cell research is being used in South Africa to develop “disease in the dish” models that fix a gene mutation that results in night blindness, tunnel vision and eventually blindness.

If the research pans out, the mutations can be fixed in a process called gene editing, which takes place in stem cells derived from the patient’s skin. These stem cells are turned into the tissue compromised in disease, which in this case is the retina of the eye.