Gene therapy could restore sight

Surgeons at Moorfields Eye Hospital have carried out pioneering gene therapy in an attempt to cure a blind patient. Robert Johnson, 23, who has a congenital sight disorder (Leber's congenital amaurosis), has had replacement genes injected into pigment cells at the back of his eye. It will be weeks before we know whether the procedure has been successful but if it is it is hoped this breakthrough treatment could help restore the sight of hundreds of thousands of visually impaired people in Britain.