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In Touch: A Genetics Special

A Genetics Special

BBC Radio 4 - In Touch, A Genetics Special

A Genetics Special - the role of genetics in treating sight loss.

How genetics and gene therapy could hold the key to future breakthroughs in treating sight loss.

In this special programme, we examine the role genetics plays in both the inheritance of sight loss and its future treatment. We hear about the latest breakthrough reported in the journal 'Nature Medicine' in which the vision of a completely blind man was partially restored using light-sensing proteins first found in algae. He was treated with a type of therapy called optogenetics, which uses the proteins to control cells at the back of his eye.

And we discuss the merits of gene testing with the Chief Executive of  Retina UK about how genetic testing can help people with inherited sight loss make future choices about their lives.

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