Scientists Use CRISPR Gene Editing to Restore Vision in Babies Born Blind in Hong Kong
Recently, Chinese scientist He Jiankui made headlines after announcing that he had successfully gene-edited two babies using CRISPR technology. In the procedure, He and his team edited the embryos’ CCR5 gene, which is associated with HIV resistance. In a surprising finding, the researchers have now revealed that the gene-editing process had an unexpected side effect in the babies: improved vision. In an article published in Nature Medicine, He and his colleagues describe how they inserted a gene variant that has been linked to improved visual acuity in the embryos’ eyes. The results suggest that gene-editing could potentially be used to improve human vision in the future.
source: Phys.org