Gene therapy can be less effective in women – and my research in mice brings us one step closer to understanding why

Some gene therapies may be less effective in women. crystal light/ Shutterstock

Gene therapies hold immense promise for treating sight loss. These therapies use a modified, harmless virus to deliver therapeutic genes directly to diseased cells, helping them to function normally again.

But numerous clinical trials have found that gene therapy causes serious side-effects in some patients because their immune system recognises the virus and attacks it.