Imagine you were a young child sitting in class and you were the only one unable to see the board. You couldn’t see well enough to play baseball or go out to play hide-and-seek with your friends. This is how seven year-old Corey Haas had been living his life so far. As he has gotten older, his vision has worsened. Corey was expected to loose his sight all together. Fortunately for him, when he was eight years old he received an experimental gene therapy that was very successful. After this therapy he was able to participate in many activities that most kids his age did.
Corey had a virus injected into his left eye. The virus had the gene RPE65 inserted into its genome so that when it released the virus DNA into the eye cell’s DNA the RPE65 gene would also be taken in. This gene was critical in improving the eyesight of Corey and others who have had the same experimental treatment. It was given to a group of people who vary in age from Corey’s age to 44. All saw noticeable results, although the younger the patient, the better the results. One of the study leaders, Dr. Katherine High, thinks that it might be possible to give the experimental treatment to younger children (age three and eventually younger) and possibly at some point in both eyes.
There would be a lot of conflict regarding whether or not this therapy should be given to little children. Even though this gene therapy is experimental, it has a great affect on the patients it is given too. It would help a child lead a more normal and easier life. Even though this therapy does not create perfect vision, just that it helps clear up someone’s vision somewhat is helpful. Because this experimental therapy has seen quite a bit of success, I think it would be a good choice for some children with serious vision problems to undergo the therapy.
References:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/health/03eye.html?_r=1&ref=research
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