Science Digest – Edition 36

What's Inside

  • Mini gene therapy for severe genetic disease.
  • New treatments for neovascular glaucoma.
  • Retinitis pigmentosa drugs in the pipeline.
  • And, about 8 articles about the science and medicine of blindness from all over the world.

Editorial By Chris Hofstader

As I've written here before, we don't write the news about the science and medicine of blindness, we just gather, curate and deliver it to our readers. While Blindness Briefs gets a consistent number of articles at around 65 per week, Science Briefs is more random. This week, we have only 9 stories to bring you, next week it could easily be twenty or more. It all depends on what gets reported in the mainstream press.

Of the articles this week and over the past couple of months that have drawn most of my attention are those about the new drug treatment for RP. It seems that this treatment may work not to just slow the progress of RP but also to reverse damage and it seems like it may work in adults with little or no remaining vision. Of course, this is a drug that has just been approved for clinical trials and we don't know when or if it will work in a larger population. This edition has two articles related to the subject and I'm following this story pretty closely.

We hope you enjoy this edition of Science Briefs.

Disclaimer

World Blind herald does not write the stories to which we link in Science Briefs, we gather them, curate them and bring them to our readers. We are not scientists ourselves and cannot guarantee the validity of the stories in this digest. We do, however, want to be very clear that you should not attempt any of the medical interventions mentioned in Science Briefs without first consulting a professional ophthalmologist and discussing it with them. Do not take medical advice from this or any other web site or podcast without first consulting a professional.

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Science and Medicine

Eluminex Biosciences Receives Scientific Recognition for its Recombinant Human Collagen

Eluminex's poster presentation entitled "A novel recombinant human collagen III (rhCIII) biosynthetic cornea (EB-301) to treat corneal blindness. This story comes to us from: PR Newswire.

Harvard Researchers Design “Mini Gene” Therapy for Severe Genetic Disease

The scientists designed a “mini gene," ashortened version of a gene, that scientists say may be useful for preventing blindness. This story comes to us from: SciTechDaily.

AZAR eye and vision cohort study

There are both modifiable and unmodifiable factors leading to visual disability and, ultimately, blindness. This story comes to us from: Scientific Reports – Nature.

43Vision Publishes New Article about Adult Vision: 60 – 80 Years Of Age

… to visual impairment and even blindness. While not all vision problems are age-related, they are more prevalent in the elderly population. This story comes to us from: InvestorsObserver.

Neovascular glaucoma: Symptoms and treatment

This may lead to irreversible damage to the optic nerve. NVG is a serious condition that can cause blindness if a person does not receive appropriate treatment. This story comes to us from: Medical News Today.

Retinitis Pigmentosa Pipeline Drugs Analysis Report, 2023: FDA Approvals, Clinical Trials

Retinitis Pigmentosa companies working in the treatment market are SanBio, … retinal diseases that result in blindness and retinal degeneration. This story comes to us from: Digital Journal.

Progress, but not enough: Why blindness remains a public health challenge in India

The leading causes of blindness and vision impairment in India include cataracts, uncorrected refractive errors, and glaucoma. This story comes to us from: Newslaundry.

Set up of a technical table on maculopathies, the main cause of blindness among the over 75s

Thus Teresio Avitabile, president of the Italian Society of Ophthalmological Sciences (Siso), applauds the minister's decision to sign the decree. This story comes to us from: Ruetir.

Vision: Cones, rods in the retina may still retain visual function despite eyesight loss

In the retina, the cells responsible for the visual experience are rods and cones. These cells are called photoreceptors and they absorb and convert light into electric signals. Rods are active in dim light. Cones are active in daylight and help a person see colors. This story comes to us from: Medical News Today.