COOL BLIND TECH

YOUR SOURCE FOR THE BEST ASSISTIVE TECH NEWS, REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS FROM TOP BLIND AND LOW VISION EXPERTS. AN ENTERTAINING AND TRUSTWORTHY DISCUSSION ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

gene therapy

Blind 3-Year-Old Sees for the First Time After New Procedure

McKinley Sovey is the youngest person to undergo this type of gene therapy. Her parents Parker and Julie Sovey have been watching her progress.

“There was that moment when she did look at me for the first time,” said Julie. “I was like I think this is working. I can’t even really explain it. She’s 3 years old and she looks at mom for the first time. It was a really, really cool moment and it was the moment I was waiting for.”

McKinley was born practically blind. The most she could see was the contrast of light. When she was a year and a half, doctors discovered she inherited a retinal disease. read more

Successful Experiments Leads to Possible Cure for Day Blindness

Successful experiments on a herd of sheep six years ago leads to US clinical trials of the treatment to help people suffering from day blindness.

In 2009, Israeli researchers identified a herd of Awassi sheep that were blind in bright daylight but could see at night, in low-light conditions. Day blindness or hereditary achromatopsia, is caused by a genetic mutation and it can afflict humans, too, especially children of marriages between close relatives.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved clinical trials of a gene therapy for day blindness developed in Israel by members of the team that identified and treated the blind sheep six years ago. It is already being used in several US medical centres. read more

Skip to content