An experimental gene therapy that makes surviving eye cells sensitive to light, used together with high-tech goggles, improved light sensitivity in seven of 10 people who were legally blind from retinitis pigmentosa. Six of those seven had gains large enough to be considered clinically meaningful.
The results, published Oct. 7 in the New England Journal of Medicine, come from a small early-stage trial led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC with international collaborators. The treatment did not restore normal vision or the ability to read. Some participants, however, became better at detecting, locating, and reaching for objects while wearing the goggles.
