Nursery nurse, 22, suffers with worst case of face blindness in UK

A nursery nurse is unable to recognise herself or her family after a cold sore left her with the UK’s worst case of face blindness. Hannah Read, 22, fell into a coma caused by brain inflammation encephalitis – which was triggered by a cold sore – aged just eight years old. When she woke up, Ms Read, from … Read more

Health: Retinal cells transplanted from corpses could cure blindness for millions of people

Eye see dead people: Retinal cells transplanted from corpses could cure blindness for millions of people around the world The retinal pigment epithelium in the back of our eyes are key to normal vision Damage to this thin layer of cells is one of the leading causes behind blindness Experts led from China successfully transplanted retinal … Read more

Thousands at risk of blindness set to benefit from a new eye drug

Thousands of Britons at risk of blindness will benefit from a new drug that slows vision loss and can even improve sight. The medicine, brolucizumab, has now been approved by NHS chiefs for patients with wet age-related macular deterioration – a painless yet incurable eye disease that’s the leading cause of blindness in over-55s. Previously, sufferers … Read more

Blindness could be cured in both eyes by injecting DNA into one

Form of hereditary blindness can be cured in BOTH eyes ‘by injecting modified DNA into one of them’ to fix a faulty genetic mutation, study finds Researchers injected modified DNA into the back on one eye of a LHON patient  In 78 per cent of cases, blindness was cured in both eyes, the researchers found   Jab … Read more

‘Bionic eye’ linked to chip in brain could cure blindness

It has been more than 10 years in the making, but scientists are preparing to implant a ‘bionic eye’ in a human subject. Researchers at Monash University have developed wireless implants that sit on the surface of the brain, which are said to restore vision to the blind. Called Gennaris bionic vision system, it includes … Read more

Human trials of ‘bionic eye’ which links directly to a chip in the brain and could cure blindness

It has been more than 10 years in the making, but scientists are preparing to implant a ‘bionic eye’ in a human subject. Researchers at Monash University have developed wireless implants that sit on the surface of the brain, which are said to restore vision to the blind. Called Gennaris bionic vision system, it includes … Read more

Hogweed can grow up to 20ft tall and cause burns and blindness – now they’re marching across Britain

For a plant with such a terrifying reputation, giant hogweed has some very eminent admirers — the Queen seemingly among them. Guests at Buckingham Palace garden parties have reported seeing several towering over the lake there.  Now that Boris Johnson — with Her Majesty’s permission — goes for early morning jogs round the Palace gardens, … Read more

How vanity left me battling blindness by Lynda La Plante

At 77 years old, Lynda La Plante is still a furious workaholic, bursting with energy and at her desk by 7.30 every morning to work on novels and TV scripts. Even in self-isolation — as she is now at home in Surrey — the UK’s most celebrated female crime author carries on weaving her dark … Read more

Doctors use CRISPR for the first time to edit blindness gene

Scientists say they have used the gene editing tool CRISPR inside someone’s body for the first time, a new frontier for efforts to operate on DNA, the chemical code of life, to treat diseases. A patient recently had it done at the Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland for an … Read more

Gene therapy that gives cricket-mad Jake, 23, a chance to hit blindness for six

Poised for action, cricket-crazy Jake Ternent gets ready to face the next ball coming his way. The 23-year-old fell in love with the game as a young teenager and has been playing regularly for the past ten years, earning a reputation as an accomplished all-rounder. It’s an astonishing achievement – because Jake has been almost … Read more