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The cover of the Winter 2025 edition of Look Forward, featuring two of our volunteers cutting a special 50th anniversary cake

Look Forward – Winter 2025 – Issue 188

This is the final edition of Look Forward this year and what a year it has been! We’ve had some very positive feedback about our Conferences and the Big Give Christmas Challenge is back - a great opportunity to double your donation at no extra cost to you! We’ve included a handy ‘What’s on’ article which outlines some of our plans for 2026. We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our readers a very Merry Christmas and a happy and fulfilling New Year.

Woman asking question using microphone

Get involved

Our community are the reason we are able to continue supporting those with inherited sight-loss conditions through research and practical support.

About us

Retina UK is a charity supporting people affected by inherited sight loss and investing in medical research to help make their challenges a thing of the past.

About inherited sight loss

Many inherited sight loss conditions occur when cells in the retina, which is the light-sensitive region at the back of the eye, deteriorate in an unpredictable way. These conditions are often referred to as inherited retinal dystrophies.

A high power image showing the position of a single transplanted photoreceptor cell (green) making new connections with bipolar cells in the recipient retina (cyan).

Stem cells

Stem cells are a special type of cell, which under the right conditions can be encouraged to grow into any other type of cell in the body, including retinal cells (rods, cones and retinal pigment epithelial cells).

A DNA spiral with a piece removed being held by tweezers

Genetics and gene therapy

When we talk about gene therapy we are usually referring to use of a harmless virus, called a vector, to deliver a normal copy of a defective gene into the cells of the eye.