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.