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Autosomal recessive inheritance

Autosomal recessive inheritance means that the faulty gene is on an autosome (any chromosome other than the sex chromosomes) and that both copies need to be faulty to cause sight loss

Eppendorf tubes in rack

Research round-up, spring 2023

Progress towards treatments for inherited retinal conditions continues to gather pace and there’s been lots going on in the last few months, with more and more approaches being explored. This round-up gives a flavour of the variety of developments, including plenty that are not specific to a particular genetic fault.

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.