Chapter 7: Gene Therapy may be the Cure for Retinal Dystrophy

An article was published on the New York Times entitled, “Eye Treatment Closes In on Being First Gene Therapy Approved in U.S.” by Andrew Pollack. In the article, the journalist discusses how gene therapy could be an opportunity much tangible for those seeking treatment in a rare type of genetic disease that causes blindness. The research that was described seemed really promising claiming that not only did it stop the progression of the blindness but in some cases had restored vision in some patients. From a public’s perspective, this is extremely exciting news. However, this article appears to be missing some information. Looking at the journalist himself, Andrew Pollack has his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in civil and environmental engineering so I feel as though he may have not have been able to address the proper questions he should have in terms of this new biological technology. It appears as though the side effects of this treatment were only noted as being minor, however, in every article that I have read thus far about gene therapies the list of side effects has been extremely long.

 

References:

http://www.brainfacts.org/~/media/Brainfacts/Article%20Multimedia/Diseases%20and%20Disorders/Degenerative%20Disorders/Seeing%20with%20Macular%20Degeneration.ashx

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/05/science/eye-treatment-closes-in-on-being-first-gene-therapy-approved-in-us.html?_r=0

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/andrew_pollack/index.html