Anand Swaroop, Ph.D.;
Masayuki Akimoto, Ph.D.,
University of Michigan School
of Medicine.
Masayuki Akimoto, Ph.D.,
University of Michigan School
of Medicine.
Scientists have restored vision in mice with retinal degeneration by transplanting stem cells at a specific stage in their development. Restoring vision in humans with RP and macular degeneration through a similar process is still years away, according More...
Retinitis Pigmentosa
The term retinitis pigmentosa (RP) refers to a group of hereditary diseases, all of which eventually result in severe vision loss. Some of the diseases in the RP family are Usher syndrome, Lebers congenital amaurosis, rod-cone disease, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, and Refsum disease.
Approximately 100,000 people in the U.S. have RP. Symptoms usually surface
| Watch an ABC News story about the restoration of sight for people with Lebers congenital amaurosis. The researchers in the story (one of three RPB-supported research teams working on this form of gene therapy), have been supported by RPB grants since 1992. |
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during adolescence or young adulthood, although some RP diseases are apparent even in infants. RP progresses at different rates in individuals, but most people with RP are legally blind by age 40.
Some forms of retinitis pigmentosa are associated with other disabilities, such as deafness in people with Usher syndrome.
Hope Through ResearchFindings by researchers working with the grant support of Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) lead to the discovery that RP symptoms are caused by the death of cells in the retina. The retina is a light detecting layer inside the eye that sends visual images to the brain. In most cases of RP, retinal cells called rod photoreceptors are the first to die, followed by cone photoreceptors. More... |
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Search the RPB Research Archive for more information |
