We were really very, very excited when we first got a glimmer that we had actually restored vision to these dogs which had been previously blind. It could also help hundreds of thousands of others with similar forms of blindness. Over time, the retina deteriorates and becomes dysfunctional in people with this disorder, so scientists say children would be the most likely beneficiaries of the gene therapy. There is a lot to be done first before researchers can advance to human trials, said Dr. Gregory Acland, a research veterinarian at Cornell University. Acland says he expects it will take about four years to get to that point.
Researchers have to look at a variety of factors.
Human vision is different from dog vision. Researchers would also have to determine the dose, and the frequency of the treatments for humans. Though a rare condition, LCA is one of the most severe blinding diseases because it affects children, and has a number of other symptoms, such as roving eye movement and inability to look in one place.