[aarontech] Re: giving blind people their sight?
- From: "rich maroney" <mumralives@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <aarontech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 00:53:52 -0400
Hmm, I think you may be confused. It sounds like you think I I'm against
this treatment. I'm all for it. If they can restore sight I'll probably get
in line myself because there are things I miss seeing. All I was saying is
that the article I saw showed the totally blind person being fully
independent while the newly restored sight person was fumbling through an
obstacle course. Was amusing to me that having that little sight and
stumbling was portrayed as better than having the skills to deal with being
blind.
-----Original Message-----
From: aarontech-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:aarontech-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Michael Grunze
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 12:41 AM
To: aarontech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [aarontech] Re: giving blind people their sight?
Acording to one article I read they can recognize people across a room. I
would kill for that in an area that's loud like the bars here. Color, I
dated a girl who loved to draw. I'd love to see color. Plus, you could still
use the skills you have in conjunction with sight, I have light perception
and I use it all the time. You don't lose anything, you gain a ton.
----- Original Message -----
From: "rich maroney" <mumralives@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <aarontech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 11:35 PM
Subject: [aarontech] Re: giving blind people their sight?
> I'm not sure what you mean, "worth a bit of work". Personally I have no
> problems navigating new areas. Colors, ehh, I wouldn't mind having to
> label
> my shirts to tell them apart, but I get by. I really don't think the
> people
> who received this treatment can tell that much to recognize a face just
> yet.
> I'm not saying this is a bad thing, having a cure for blindness, rather I
> find it funny that they'd show a person with limited sight struggling to
> travel and herald it as amazing, and then immediately show a competent
> blind
> person with a cane traveling with ease. As if just being able to see a
> tiny
> bit is better than having to use the cane.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: aarontech-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:aarontech-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> On Behalf Of Michael Grunze
> Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 12:32 AM
> To: aarontech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [aarontech] Re: giving blind people their sight?
>
> But color, recognizing people without needing to hear their voice, not
> being
>
> dependent on people in a new location, that's worth a bit of work, isn't
> it?
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "rich maroney" <mumralives@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <aarontech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 11:25 PM
> Subject: [aarontech] Re: giving blind people their sight?
>
>
>> Heh, I saw this story on CNN the other day. They were showing clips of
>> the
>> people navigating the obstacle course, taking baby steps and staring
>> intensely at the ground, scanning. Then they showed a blind man, who I
>> happen to know, walking with a cane with no problems. Just seems funny
>> that
>> they herald the patients amazing ability to read the top two lines of an
>> eye chart, while at the same time showing another blind person using a
>> cane
>> and not having any problems walking at all.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: aarontech-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:aarontech-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
>> On Behalf Of Valiant8086 (on laptop)
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 12:18 AM
>> To: aarontech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [aarontech] giving blind people their sight?
>>
>> Forwarded from the blind cool tech mailing list.
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Neal Ewers" <neal.ewers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> To: "Bct" <bct@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 2:18 PM
>> Subject: [BCT] OT, giving blind people their sight?
>>
>>
>>> Gene therapy experiments improve vision in nearly blind
>>>
>>> By STEPHANIE NANO
>>>
>>> The Associated Press
>>>
>>> Sunday, April 27, 2008; 5:36 PM
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/27/AR200804270
>>> 1>
>>>
>>
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/27/AR2008042701
>>>
>>> 326_pf.html
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> NEW YORK -- Scientists for the first time have used gene therapy to
>>> dramatically improve sight in people with a rare form of blindness, a
>>> development experts called a major advance for the experimental
>>> technique.
>>>
>>> Some vision was restored in four of the six young people who got the
>>> treatment, teams of researchers in the United States and Britain
>>> reported
>>> Sunday. Two of the volunteers who could only see hand motions were able
>>> to
>>> read a few lines of an eye chart within weeks.
>>>
>>> "It's a phenomenal breakthrough," said Stephen Rose, chief research
>>> officer
>>> of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, which helped pay for one study
>>> done
>>> at
>>> Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
>>>
>>> If successful in larger numbers, experts said, the technique has the
>>> potential to reverse blindness from other kinds of inherited eye
>>> diseases.
>>>
>>> "I think this is incredibly exciting," said Dr. Jean Bennett, a
>>> professor
>>> of
>>> ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania and a leader of the
>>> Philadelphia study. "It's the beginning of a whole new phase of
>>> studies."
>>>
>>> The research was published online Sunday by the New England Journal of
>>> Medicine in conjunction with presentations at a medical meeting in
>>> Florida.
>>>
>>> The two teams of scientists, working separately, each tested gene
>>> replacement therapy in three patients with a form of a rare hereditary
>>> eye
>>> disease called Leber's congenital amaurosis. There's no treatment for
>>> the
>>> disease, which appears early in infancy and causes severe vision loss,
>>> especially at night.
>>>
>>> An estimated 2,000 Americans have the form of the disease they targeted,
>>> Bennett said.
>>>
>>> Gene therapy _ replacing faulty genes with a normal version _ has been
>>> studied in humans for over 15 years with limited success. The field
>>> suffered
>>> a setback with the 1999 death of Jesse Gelsinger, 18, in an experiment
>>> for
>>
>>> a
>>> liver disorder at Penn. And some children treated for an immune disorder
>>> called the "bubble boy disease" later developed leukemia.
>>>
>>> The early results of the eye experiments should give the field a boost,
>>> some
>>> experts said.
>>>
>>> "I think it's really a big shot in the arm for gene therapy and for
>>> medicine
>>> in general," said Dr. Ronald Crystal, head of genetic medicine at Weill
>>> Cornell Medical College in New York.
>>>
>>> Each of the study participants had mutations in a gene that makes a
>>> protein
>>> needed by the retina, which senses light and sends images to the brain.
>>>
>>> Those without the gene gradually lose sight until they are blind in
>>> early
>>> adulthood.
>>>
>>> The retina itself stays in relatively good shape for a while, making it
>>> a
>>> good candidate for gene therapy, said Robin Ali, a professor at
>>> University
>>> College London, who led the British team. He likened the defective gene
>>> to
>>
>>> a
>>> missing spark plug in a car engine.
>>>
>>> "The whole engine can be absolutely fine, but if it doesn't have a spark
>>> plug, the car's not going to work," said Ali.
>>>
>>> For the experiment, the scientists injected millions of copies of a
>>> working
>>> gene beneath the retina in the back of the eye. Only one eye was treated
>>> _
>>> the worst one _ in case anything went wrong; the untreated eye was used
>>> for
>>> comparison. After the treatment, their eyesight and light sensitivity
>>> were
>>> measured periodically; mobility was tested in a maze or an obstacle
>>> course.
>>>
>>> All three of those treated in Philadelphia showed significant
>>> improvement
>>> in
>>> their vision, the researchers said. The volunteers _ two women, 19 and
>>> 26,
>>> and a man, 26 _ were from Italy, where they had been screened by
>>> researchers
>>> there. The longest follow-up was six months.
>>>
>>> Besides reading lines on an eye chart, they could see better in dim lit,
>>> Bennett said.
>>>
>>> "We were not expecting to restore their vision to 20/20," she said.
>>>
>>> In the British group, the treatment only worked in 18-year-old Steven
>>> Howarth, whose disease was less advanced than the other two _ a girl,
>>> 17;
>>> and a man, 23, who was followed for a year.
>>>
>>> Howarth said he used to rush home from school because he was worried
>>> about
>>> getting around in the dark, according to remarks issued by the
>>> university.
>>>
>>> "Now, my sight when it's getting dark or it's badly lit is definitely
>>> better. It's a small change _ but it makes a big difference to me," said
>>> Howarth, who lives in Bolton, near Manchester.
>>>
>>> After the injection last July, Howarth said his eye felt like sandpaper.
>>> It
>>> was better after a week, and his eyesight gradually improved. He was
>>> able
>>> to
>>> negotiate a dimly lit maze in 14 seconds without bumping into any
>>> obstacles;
>>> before it took him 77 seconds with eight errors.
>>>
>>> There were no serious side effects reported in either group. One of the
>>> patients in Philadelphia developed a hole in his retina which didn't
>>> affect
>>> his eyesight. The researchers think the hole was related to the surgery
>>> and
>>> not the injected gene.
>>>
>>> The researchers said there was no evidence that the altered virus used
>>> to
>>> ferry the gene into the retina's cells had traveled outside the eye to
>>> other
>>> areas of the body.
>>>
>>> The groups have each treated a fourth patient, including a preteen in
>>> England. The researchers hope to see better results with higher doses
>>> and
>>> in
>>> younger patients with less eye damage.
>>>
>>> The National Eye Institute is funding a third similar study at the
>>> University of Florida.
>>>
>>> The research in Philadelphia and London was paid for by a variety of
>>> government agencies and private foundations. An employee of Targeted
>>> Genetics Corp., which made the altered virus used in London, is a
>>> co-author
>>> of their report. Four of the Philadelphia researchers, including
>>> Bennett,
>>> have either applied for or have patents related to gene therapy. Ali and
>>> another British researcher have also applied for a patent for the
>>> procedure.
>>>
>>> ___
>>>
>>> AP Science Writer Malcolm Ritter contributed to this report.
>>>
>>> ___
>>>
>>> On the Net:
>>>
>>> New England Journal of Medicine: <http://www.nejm.org/>
>>> http://www.nejm.org
>>>
>>> National Eye Institute: <http://www.nei.nih.gov/>
>>> http://www.nei.nih.gov
>>>
>>>
>>> Neal Ewers
>>> Ravenswood Productions
>>> Madison Wisconsin
>>> Local phone: 608-277-1995
>>> Toll Free: 888-544-8332
>>> email: neal.ewers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> Web: http://ravenswood.org <http://ravenswood.org/>
>>> FTP site: ftp://ftp.ravenswood.org <ftp://ftp.ravenswood.org/>
>>> Skype name: neal163
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> BCT mailing list
>>> BCT@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> http://lists.blind-planet.com/listinfo.cgi/bct-blind-planet.com
>>>
>>>
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>>
>
>
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Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG.
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7:42 AM
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