Retinitis Pigmentosa

Stem cells improve visual function in blind mice

An experimental treatment for blindness, developed from a patient's skin cells, improved the vision of blind mice in a study conducted by Columbia ophthalmologists and stem cell researchers.

Medical research created Oct 01, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Gene therapy restores sense of smell, may aid research into other diseases caused by cilia defects

Scientists have restored the sense of smell in mice through gene therapy for the first time—a hopeful sign for people who can't smell anything from birth or lose it due to disease.

Medical research created Sep 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Australians implant 'world first' bionic eye

Australian scientists said Thursday they had successfully implanted a "world first" bionic eye prototype, describing it as a major breakthrough for the visually impaired.

Ophthalmology created Aug 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 0

Researchers elucidate cause of death of photoreceptor cells in retinitis pigmentosa

Research conducted at the Angiogenesis Laboratory at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, has for the first time, identified the mode of death of cone photoreceptor cells in an animal model of retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

Ophthalmology created Aug 20, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

AAQ chemical makes blind mice see; compound holds promise for treating humans

A team of University of California, Berkeley, scientists in collaboration with researchers at the University of Munich and University of Washington in Seattle has discovered a chemical that temporarily restores some vision ...

Neuroscience created Jul 25, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Eye implants make vision-restoring progress

(Medical Xpress) -- "I was blind once but now I can see.” The words are no longer the sole property of religious testimony and literature. Medical progress is being made in the restoration of vision as ...

Ophthalmology created Jul 18, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (10) | comments 4 | with audio podcast report

New advances in treating inherited retinal diseases highlighted in Human Gene Therapy

Gene therapy strategies to prevent and treat inherited diseases of the retina that can cause blindness have progressed rapidly. Positive results in animal models of human retinal disease continue to emerge, ...

Genetics created May 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

First blind patients in the UK has retina implant

Retina Implant AG, the developer of subretinal implants for patients blinded by retinitis pigmentosa (RP), announced that the first UK patients participating in the Company's multi-centre trial have been successfully implanted. ...

Medical research created May 03, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Photoreceptor transplant restores vision in mice

Scientists funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) have shown for the first time that transplanting light-sensitive photoreceptors into the eyes of visually impaired mice can restore their vision.

Medical research created Apr 18, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists produce eye structures from human blood-derived stem cells

(Medical Xpress) -- For the first time, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have made early retina structures containing proliferating neuroretinal progenitor cells using induced pluripotent ...

Ophthalmology created Mar 14, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New pig model may lead to progress in treating debilitating eye disease

A newly developed, genetically modified pig may hold the keys to the development of improved treatments and possibly even a cure for retinitis pigmentosa (RP), the most common inherited retinal disease in the United States. ...

Ophthalmology created Mar 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers develop gene therapy that could correct a common form of blindness

A new gene therapy method developed by University of Florida researchers has the potential to treat a common form of blindness that strikes both youngsters and adults. The technique works by replacing a malfunctioning gene ...

Ophthalmology created Jan 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Gene therapy research cures retinitis pigmentosa in dogs

Members of a University of Pennsylvania research team have shown that they can prevent, or even reverse, a blinding retinal disease, X-linked Retinitis Pigmentosa, or XLRP, in dogs.

Genetics created Jan 23, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Professor's research helps restore sight to the blind

Wolfgang Fink's research into artificial retinas helps restore some sight in blind patients with age-related macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa.

Medical research created Jan 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Transcriptional barcoding of retinal cells identifies disease target cells

(Medical Xpress) -- By developing a large scale gene expression map for retinal cell types, FMI Neurobiologists have been able to identify the cells in the retina, where the genes causing retinal diseases ...

Neuroscience created Jan 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast


Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of genetic eye conditions that leads to incurable blindness. In the progression of symptoms for RP, night blindness generally precedes tunnel vision by years or even decades. Many people with RP do not become legally blind until their 40s or 50s and retain some sight all their lives. Others go completely blind from RP, in some cases as early as childhood. Progression of RP is different in each case.

RP is a type of progressive retinal dystrophy, a group of inherited disorders in which abnormalities of the photoreceptors (rods and cones) or the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of the retina lead to progressive visual loss. Affected individuals first experience defective dark adaptation or nyctalopia (night blindness), followed by reduction of the peripheral visual field (known as tunnel vision) and, sometimes, loss of central vision late in the course of the disease.

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