Blindness News and Research

RSS

Newly Discovered Bacterial Species Shed Light on Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic-resistant infection is projected to catch up to cancer as the leading cause of death by 2050, making understanding and limiting the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria a priority worldwide.

1 Mar 2024

The Potential of Monoclonal Antibodies for Neonatal Herpes

The results of a recent study led by the Geisel School of Medicine and Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, and published in Cell Reports Medicine, provide new information about the role that antibodies play in preventing herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections.

13 Feb 2024

LambdaVision Aims to Refine Process for In-Space Manufacturing of Artificial Retinas Through ISS National Lab-Sponsored Investigation

Approximately 1.5 million people worldwide are affected by retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic disorder that causes vision loss.

24 Jan 2024

Human Conjunctiva Model Developed For First Time

The Hubrecht Institute's Organoid group created the first organoid model of the human conjunctiva. The function of these organoids is mimicked by the human conjunctiva, a tissue involved in the formation of tears.

12 Jan 2024

The Pathogenic Mechanism Underpinning MEPAN Syndrome

New research published in Nature Metabolism discovered the pathogenic mechanism driving mitochondrial enoyl reductase protein-associated neurodegeneration (MEPAN) syndrome, a rare pediatric neurodegenerative disease.

1 Sep 2023

Scientists Develop Nanofiber Scaffold to Grow Retinal Cells

Scientists have found a way to use nanotechnology to create a 3D 'scaffold' to grow cells from the retina –paving the way for potential new ways of treating a common cause of blindness.

31 Jul 2023

New Approach to Reverse Aging and Restore Cellular Function

Researchers have opened a new front in the battle against aging and diseases associated with old age through a ground-breaking study

13 Jul 2023

New Gene Therapy may be on the Horizon for Usher Syndrome Type 1F

Usher Syndrome type 1F is a rare but severe genetic disease that causes deafness, lack of balance, and progressive blindness.

27 Apr 2023

UH Researcher Designs New Model Expressing the Most Common Disease Mutation in USH2A

Usher syndrome, a rare inherited genetic disease, is a leading cause of combined deafness and blindness with type 2A (USH2A) being the most common form.

18 Apr 2023

Study Paves the Way to Targeted Treatments for Stargardt Disease

A recent study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry revealed the key to a protein that commonly causes blindness.

5 Apr 2023

Newly Identified Rare Genetic Variants Could Point to One of the General Mechanisms Driving AMD

A study from the National Eye Institute (NEI) identified rare genetic variants that could point to one of the general mechanisms driving age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common cause of vision loss in older adults.

3 Apr 2023

FDA-approved compound promotes photoreceptor survival in lab models of inherited retinal ciliopathy

A National Eye Institute-led team has identified a compound already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that keeps light-sensitive photoreceptors alive in three models of Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA 10), an inherited retinal ciliopathy disease that often results in severe visual impairment or blindness in early childhood.

30 Mar 2023

BetaLife and A*STAR team up to accelerate the development of new cell-based therapy for diabetes

Up-and-coming local biotech startup BetaLife Pte Ltd ("BetaLife") is collaborating with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to accelerate the development of next generation cell-based therapy for diabetes.

22 Mar 2023

Genome editing proven effective to restore the vision of mice with genetic diseases

Chinese researchers have turned out to be successful in restoring the vision of mice with retinitis pigmentosa, which is considered to be one of the significant causes of blindness in humans.

20 Mar 2023

Newly discovered genetic mutation may be a root cause of severe cases of childhood glaucoma

An international team of scientists led by Mass Eye and Ear, a member of Mass General Brigham, and Boston Children's Hospital, has discovered a new genetic mutation that may be a root cause of severe cases of childhood glaucoma, a devastating condition that runs in families and can rob children of their vision by 3 years of age.

30 Jan 2023

Blending multiple maps uncover new genetic causes of blindness

In a new study, Ran Elkon and Ruth Ashery-Padan of Tel Aviv University, Israel, and colleagues discovered a new genetic risk factor for adult-onset macular degeneration (AMD) by combining a map of gene regulatory sites with disease-associated loci.

18 Jan 2023

3D “mini eyes” provide insight into genetically induced blindness

The development of “mini eyes” by researchers at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH) has made it possible to study and comprehend the onset of blindness in the rare genetic disease known as Usher syndrome more.

From University College London 22 Nov 2022

New tool advances potential means to deliver gene therapy

Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine claim to have successfully “slid” genetic instructions into a cell and produced essential proteins that were lacking from those cells using a cell’s normal process for creating proteins.

1 Nov 2022

Adults with congenital blindness experience striking recoveries of night vision after gene therapy

Adults with a genetic form of childhood-onset blindness experienced striking recoveries of night vision within days of receiving an experimental gene therapy, according to researchers at the Scheie Eye Institute in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

11 Oct 2022

Native 3D structure of the ciliary base witnessed for the first time

Because flaws in the cilia transport system can result in, for example, blindness or cystic kidneys, findings reported in Science offer new understandings of the molecular basis for different diseases.

20 Sep 2022