For ten years or so, a man had seen nothing but the difference between day and night. At the age of 58, he partially regained his vision for a unique clinical trial. For example, he now manages to locate an object on the table. “This is not a color perception, if we put him in a real-life situation, he would be able to see the zebra at the pedestrian crossing on the tarmac“, Explains Professor Isabel Audo, Professor of Ophthalmology.

The patient has degenerative retinal disease. Photosensitive cells die slowly, leading to blindness. Innovative treatment Is a mixture Gene therapy and light stimulation. In 2010, the technique made it possible to improve vision in blind mice at the Institut de la Vision. Scientists continue to test to confirm the results first, and to find out if higher doses improve perception.

Publication on 05/24 in the journal Nature in
Partial recovery of visual function in the blind patient after optogenetic therapy

Jose-Alain Sahel, Alice Baulanger-Semama, Chloe Pagot, Angelo Arlio, Francesco Gallupi, Joseph Ann Martel, Simona Degli Esposti, Alexandre Delaux, Jean-Baptiste de Saint Aubert, Carolyn de Montleau, Emmanuelle Gutman, Isabel Audo, Jens Dubel, Serge Picoud, Deniz Dalkara, Laur Blouin, Magali Tael, Botond Rosca, Nature Medicine, 24 May 2021.
Lien:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01351-4

Institute de la Vision website

https://www.institut-vision.org/fr/