Navigation Links
Chemical makes blind mice see; compound holds promise for treating humans
Date:7/25/2012

e therapy if you don't like the results. As improved chemicals become available, you could offer them to patients. You can't do that when you surgically implant a chip or after you genetically modify somebody," Kramer said.

"This is a major advance in the field of vision restoration," said co-author Dr. Russell Van Gelder, an ophthalmologist and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Kramer, Van Gelder, chemist Dirk Trauner and their colleagues at UC Berkeley, the University of Washington, Seattle, and the University of Munich will publish their findings Thursday, July 26, in the journal Neuron.

The blind mice in the experiment had genetic mutations that made their rods and cones die within months of birth and inactivated other photopigments in the eye. After injecting very small amounts of AAQ into the eyes of the blind mice, Kramer and his colleagues confirmed that they had restored light sensitivity because the mice's pupils contracted in bright light, and the mice showed light avoidance, a typical rodent behavior impossible without the animals being able to see some light. Kramer is hoping to conduct more sophisticated vision tests in rodents injected with the next generation of the compound.

"The photoswitch approach offers real hope to patients with retinal degeneration," Van Gelder said. "We still need to show that these compounds are safe and will work in people the way they work in mice, but these results demonstrate that this class of compound restores light sensitivity to retinas blind from genetic disease."

From optogenetics to implanted chips

The current technologies being evaluated for restoring sight to people whose rods and cones have died include injection of stem cells to regenerate the rods and cones; "optogenetics," that is, gene therapy to insert a photoreceptor gene into blind neurons to make them sensitive to light; and installation
'/>"/>

Contact: Robert Sanders
rsanders@berkeley.edu
510-643-6998
University of California - Berkeley
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3

Related biology technology :

1. "Just Label It" condemns dangerous riders snuck into the Farm Bill by chemical companies working to keep Americans in the dark about their food
2. U of M discovery to improve efficiencies in fuel, chemical and pharmaceutical industries
3. Specialty Chemical Forum 2012 Kicks Off in Houston; AkzoNobels Frank Sherman Delivers Keynote Address
4. Defending against chemical acts of terrorism
5. New twist on old chemical process could boost energy efficiency
6. Study shows availability of hydrogen controls chemical structure of graphene oxide
7. In chemical reactions, water adds speed without heat
8. Defending against chemical acts of terrorism
9. CELEXION Awarded Patent on Biosynthesis of Renewable Chemicals
10. 2 for 1: Simultaneous size and electrochemical measurement of nanomaterials
11. AMPAC Fine Chemicals Continues to Invest in Quality Systems
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:6/19/2013)... , June 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ ... Bureau presents Innovative Drug Delivery ... Technology Licensing Opportunities for Generic ... There are more ... release drugs approved all over ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... India’s vast and growing population means ... up to a billion dollars per year by ... taking serious action to better regulate and oversee ... will examine:, ,     Recent changes in ... long term impacts ,     Foreseeable opportunities ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... 18, 2013 A new look at ... and other trends will highlight technical sessions at ... fall. In its 33rd year, the three-day event is ... of key suppliers, approximately 100 technical presentations and numerous ... international society for optics and photonics , the meeting ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... Adding to their already extensive supply ... Simport’s Dropette® and Heathrow Scientific disposable plastic ... basic biology, chemistry and any type of liquid handling ... 35 years, Simport has been supplying the science community ... the Simport Dropette®. Simport’s Dropette® is a one-piece ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Innovative Drug Delivery Systems: Novel Product and Formulation Technology Licensing Opportunities for Generic Pharmaceutical Companies 2Innovative Drug Delivery Systems: Novel Product and Formulation Technology Licensing Opportunities for Generic Pharmaceutical Companies 3‘Big Glass’ and Visions for the Future are on the Program for SPIE Photomask Technology 2‘Big Glass’ and Visions for the Future are on the Program for SPIE Photomask Technology 3Leading Pipette Distributor Pipette.com Now Stocks Transfer Pipettes: Simport’s Dropette and Heathrow Scientific Disposable Plastic Transfer Pipettes 2
... , , , Multiporator / Electroporator 2510 , , , , , ... Transformation Protocol , Protocol No. 4308 915.511 04/2002 , ... , , , Microorganism , ... Cell type , Bacteria, gram negative, ...
... , , , , , , , , ... Protocol No. 4308 915.506 12/2001 , , , , , ... , Microorganism , Borrelia burgdorferi B31, ... Bacteria, gram negative, , , ...
... , , , , , ... , Nicole Passaretti, Vincent Prezioso, PhDBrinkmann Instruments, Inc., , ... GmbH, Hamburg, Germany , , , , ... DNA in a bacterial , cell, which can replicate independently ...
Cached Biology Technology:Escherichia coli C600 2Escherichia coli C600 3Borrelia burgdorferi 2Efficient Recovery of Ultrapure Plasmid DNA 2Efficient Recovery of Ultrapure Plasmid DNA 3Efficient Recovery of Ultrapure Plasmid DNA 4
(Date:6/18/2013)... from the United Kingdom, the Energy Department,s National ... Kentucky have recently published a paper describing a ... Limnoria quadripunctata , commonly known as the ... they exhibit a relatively unique ability to produce ... to break down the biomass they eat. New ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... At Brandeis University, sophisticated computational models and advances ... the complex interplay between genomic data, virus structure ... critical for replication. , "We ... will help researchers alter virus assembly, leaving viruses ... first author of the scientific paper describing the ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... Ph.D., Medical Research Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, ... 2013 ICAAC Young Investigator Award. Torrent is being ... the first algorithm to predict antimicrobial regions in ... "we are now applying this algorithm to interrogate ... peptide leads with very appealing results." , ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Novel enzyme from tiny gribble could prove a boon for biofuels research 2Computer modeling technique goes viral at Brandeis 2The American Society for Microbiology honors Marc Torrent 2
... in the midst of a seething, breathing microbial world. ... from the surface of the human skin, to rainforest ... Despite the powerful and pervasive role of microbes ... a mystery. This is the subject of The Uncharted ...
... our previous beliefs, identical twins are not genetically identical. ... and Dutch scientists in a study being published today ... The finding may be of great significance for ... new diagnostic methods. How can it be that ...
... infection mechanism of bunyaviruses causing hemorrhagic fevers and ... from the University of Helsinki and structural biologists ... Max Planck Biochemistry Institute in Mnich has solved ... Uukuniemi virus is the first bunyavirus whose structure ...
Cached Biology News:Unexplored microbes hold incredible potential for science and industry 2Unexplored microbes hold incredible potential for science and industry 3The Uukuniemi virus helps to explain the infection mechanism of bunyaviruses 2
UNIVERSAL SCORECARD DNA, 1 EA. * Category: Reagents/Consumables....
mitochondrial proteins (human heart) for 2-D gel electrophoresis *5 mg/mL*...
... GeneMaths XT is undoubtedly the most complete ... advanced concept of layers and subsets makes ... layers for different data outputs, for example ... etc., as well as different subsets of ...
...
Biology Products: