Can a virus cure AMD?

Researchers have built upon 14 years of research to create a new adeno-associated virus that is a great improvement over current gene therapies. Details of the groundbreaking work were published in the Science Translational Medicine journal. The current therapies involve injecting a needle directly into the retina to deliver a virus with a normal gene. This risky procedure does not even deliver the virus to all of the retinal cells that need repair. The new therapy which was successfully tested in mice involved injecting the virus in the vitreous humor. The adeno-virus was able to deliver the normal gene to every part of the retina and the retinal cells were successfully restored to almost normal. This new delivery method is non-invasive, safe and is only a 15-minute procedure. The research team is no hopeful to undertake preclinical studies and move on to clinical trials in the near future and are optimistic that the therapy will one day be able to benefit macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa patients.*