Scientists have discovered that gene therapy and the diabetes drug metformin may be potential treatments for late-onset retinal degeneration (L-ORD), a rare, blinding eye disease. Researchers from the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health generated a “disease-in-a-dish” model to study the disease. The findings are published in Communications Biology.
“This new model of a rare eye disease is a terrific example of translational research, where collaboration among clinical and laboratory researchers advances knowledge not by small steps, but by leaps and bounds,” said Michael F. Chiang, M.D., director of the NEI, part of the National Institutes of Health.