Gene Therapy Cures Retinitis Pigmentosa In Dogs

[sandgrubber]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120123152508.htm

ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2012) — Members of a University of Pennsylvania research team have shown that they can prevent, or even reverse, a blinding retinal disease, X-linked Retinitis Pigmentosa, or XLRP, in dogs.

The disease in humans and dogs is caused by defects in the RPGR gene and results in early, severe and progressive vision loss. It is one of the most common inherited forms of retinal degeneration in man. "Every single abnormal feature that defines the disease in the dogs was corrected following treatment," said lead author William Beltran, assistant professor of ophthalmology at Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine.

"We were thrilled," said senior author Gustavo Aguirre, professor of medical genetics and ophthalmology at Penn Vet. "The treated cells were completely normal, and this effect resulted from introducing the normal version of the human gene into the diseased photoreceptor cells."

The similarities between humans and dogs, in terms of both eye anatomy, physiology, disease characteristics and positive response to this gene therapy, raise hope for a clear path to human therapies.

(the article continues. . . )

[MalteseLuna]

That is soooo cool! I love working in science

[hortfurball]

Thank you so much for posting this, made my day, and will now make somebody else's when I tell them they may have a chance of a cure after all. :D