Microbial protein restores vision in blind animals

June 25, 2010 - Microbial protein restores vision in blind animals. Scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) restore vision in retinitis pigmentosa using an archaebacterial protein. Introducing halorhodopsin into the remaining but nonfunctional cone photoreceptors of the retina of mice not only reactivates the cone cells' ability to interact with the rest of the visual system, it also prompts sophisticating visually guided behavior. With their collaborators in the Vision Institute of Paris, the scientists were able to validate their results in light-insensitive human retinas in vitro, which were able to respond to light again after treatment. These groundbreaking results were published today in the journal Science. Retinitis pigmentosa is a diverse group of hereditary diseases that lead to incurable blindness and affect two million people worldwide. Despite the diversity of its cause, the manifestation of the disease is similar: the highly sensitive rod photoreceptors, which allow us to see in the dusk, die.