World Retina Day September 27th, 2014
Passing out of the scientific darkness and into the light of clinical trials This was the title of an inspiring talk given at the recent Retina International World congress in Paris by distinguished vision scientist and charismatic orator Professor Gerald Chader.To read the whole article please click here. read

Inducing visual function - Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel (Switzerland)
Scientists from the groups led by Botond Roska and Witold Filipowicz have resolved the mechanism controlling the maintenance of the light detectors - the cone photoreceptor outer segments - in the retina. read

Cell-based lab study suggests gene rescue in the most common form of LCA may provide a viable treatment strategy
Research, led by US scientists from the Wynn Institute for Vision Research, University of Iowa, have demonstrated that lentiviral delivery of a functioning gene for centrosomal protein may be capable of rescuing one of the most common forms of LCA. The pre-clinical experiments, conducted on derived murine and patient-specific photoreceptor precursor cells, successfully delivered a faithful copy of the CEP290 gene to overcome a defect in ciliogenesis. Following delivery, the cultured target cells, harbouring mutations in the CEP290 gene, were shown to express full-length replacement transcript to provide a level of functional rescue read

Phase I/II stem cell trial in dry AMD indicates improvement in visual function and delay in disease progression
According to the sponsor of an AMD stem cell clinical sutdy, StemCells Inc., interim trial results from a phase I/II trial suggest a 65% reduction in the rate of geographic atrophy in the treated eye, compared to the expected natural history of the disease. read

ARVO 2014: A Report from the Annual Meeting
This report has been kindly prepared for Retina International by Elaine A. Richmann, PhD, Richman Associates, LLC, USA read

Join RETINA INTERNATIONAL YOUTH the new Facebook group for people under 35!
Join us on facebook to exchange your experiences and question experts about retinal degenerations in a safe environment. If you're 35 and younger apply to become a member of our closed group on facebook! read