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A fascinating paper from Gradinaru et al describes a genetically engineered mouse model of Parkinson's disease that expresses a photoreceptor in the neurons of a particular part of the brain - the subthalamic nucleus (STN). This area is widely thought to be the central target of the immensely therapeutic technique for Parkinson's known as deep brain stimulation.
To help celebrate GEN’s 40th Anniversary with this special October issue, we asked scientists and business professionals in academia and industry to give us their reflections, impressions, and insights on the biotechnology industry and the life sciences.
'It's just amazing': How this gene therapy helped a blind man start to see ⋮ A blind man regained partial sight after undergoing a gene therapy known as optogenetics and using a pair of specialized goggles, according to a breakthrough case study published in Nature Medicine. According to the New York Times, the human eye generates images when light hits the retina, where photoreceptor cells convert the light into electrical signals they send to neighboring ganglion cells. Those ganglion cells then use the optic nerve to send those signals to the brain, which converts the information ...
If an algae protein can artificially allow neurons in the brain to translate light into electrical information, why can’t it do the same for damaged eyes?
Scientists Partially Restored a Blind Man’s Sight With New Gene Therapy Using a technique called optogenetics, researchers added light-sensitive proteins to the man’s retina, giving him a blurry view of objects. In an experiment, a 58-year-old volunteer with a genetic form of blindness was able to identify the position of two cups.Credit...Sahel, et al.; Nature Medicine May 24, 2021, 11:00 a.m. ET A team of scientists announced Monday that they had partially restored the sight of a blind man by building light-catching proteins in one of his eyes. Their report, which appeared in the journa...