Failed Study Into Gene Therapy Produces Possible Treatment for a Form of Blindness

“Failure is always an option.” This was the motto of Mythbuster Adam Savage, but it really is the ultimate axiom governing science. Failure is always around the corner, but even failures produce data which can lead to successes down the road. Such is the case in a Cambridge University study into a hereditary condition called ‘Leber hereditary optic neuropathy’ (LHON) that commonly leads to blindness. The research itself centered around a gene therapy injected into one eye, but not the other. In almost all cases, the vision in both eyes improved to the point the subject was no longer considered legally blind.

This is a specific treatment for a particular genetic condition, and its applications outside of that condition may be limited. But this is science, and who knows where this data could lead.

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