OUTLOOK
10 April 2019

Four technologies that could transform the treatment of blindness

A decade ago, clinicians had nothing to offer most people affected by retinal degeneration. Breakthroughs in genetics, bionics and stem-cell therapy are changing that.

Simon Makin⁰

Simon Makin
1. Simon Makin is a science writer based in London.
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Animation showing a person wearing glasses appearing from behind a black mask that slowly dissolves — Credit: Taj Francis

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Worldwide, 36 million people have total vision loss¹. They cannot see shapes or even sources of light. For most of these people, their blindness stems from rectifiable problems such as cataracts — they simply lack access to appropriate health care. The remaining millions, however, are blind as a result of conditions that currently have no effective treatment.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01107-8

This article is part of Nature Outlook: The eye, an editorially independent supplement.

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