HOPE, HYPE REALITY: ZINC FINGER GENE THERAPY TO CONTROL OR CURE HIV A video to answer your questions about a gene therapy approach to an HIV cure. On Nov 5, 2014, the defeatHIV Community Advisory Board hosted a talk with Dr. Philip D. Gregory (Chief Scientific... By: defeatHIV … Continue reading →

Roughly 40 million people across the world are blind and, for a long time, most forms of blindness were permanent conditions. The same situation held for degenerative diseases that affect eyesight. But recently, scientists have made some surprising headway into changing that. New treatments like gene therapy, stem-cell therapy, and even bionic implants are already starting to restore some patients' sight. And these technologies are expected to keep improving in the future. Here's a look at all the ways scientists have tried and, increasingly, succeeded in curing the blind: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Daniel Burke/AP Photo This undated image released by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia shows doctors Albert Maguire, left, along with wife Jean Bennett at the University of Pennsylvania. The two are part of two teams of scientists in the United States and Britain that are using gene therapy to dramatically improve vision in four patients with an inherited eye disease that causes blindness in children. Tweaking genes is one promising route to treat blindness. In 2011, a group led by Jean Bennett of the University of Pennsylvania used gene therapy to treat some patients with a congenital blindness disorder. The patients in question all hada hereditary disease … Continue reading →