Congenital blindness gene is identified

MONTREAL, June 4 (UPI) -- A Canadian-led team of medical researchers has identified the gene responsible for a type of blindness in infants and children.

McGill University Health Center scientists said the gene is responsible for Leber Congenital Amaurosis, or LCA -- the most common cause of congenital blindness in infants and young children.

"This discovery has the potential to fast-track a cure for this disease," said lead investigator Robert Koenekoop, director of the McGill Ocular Genetics Center. "Our main research goal is to identify all the genes responsible for congenital blindness in children and then study them so that we can then use gene therapy to rescue their vision."

Working with an international team of researchers including scientists from the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands and the University of Leeds in Britain, Koenekoop said large families were previously necessary to conduct genetic research. But in his study only samples from one Quebec and one U.S. patient were used to accomplish the research within a few months instead of several years.

"This method may become a model for identifying other retinal diseases and causes of blindness in the future," said Koenekoop.

The research appears in the journal Nature Genetics.