Researchers reverse congenital blindness in mice, study finds

A technique that generates rod photoreceptors in the eye reversed congenital blindness in mice, a recent study found.

The technique takes supportive cells in the retina called Müller glia and changes them into photoreceptors, light-sensitive cells allowing people to see in low light.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, found that photoreceptors created with this technique developed as effectively in congenitally blind mice — those born blind — as in normal mice.

Researchers said the study advances efforts to create regenerative therapies treating conditions such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disorder causing a loss of peripheral vision and trouble seeing at night.

"Rods allow us to see in low light, but they may also help preserve cone photoreceptors, which are important for color vision and high visual acuity," said Thomas N. Greenwell, program director for retinal neuroscience at the National Eye Institute, in a statement.

"Cones tend to die in later-stage eye diseases. If rods can be regenerated from inside the eye, this might be a strategy for treating diseases of the eye that affect photoreceptors."

Their findings were published this month in the journal Nature.

Researchers are now exploring whether the treated mice have regained the ability to perform visual tasks, and whether the technique could work on human tissue.

In a separate study, NIH researchers claim that a new gene therapy that slows vision loss in dogs with a rare eye disease could potentially work on humans.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

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