China's gene therapy research making strides to restore sight for RP patients
- Chris McMillan
- Aug 10
- 1 min read
China Daily
7th August 2025
China's gene therapy research making strides to restore sight for RP patients
At 61, a retinitis pigmentosa (RP) patient surnamed Zhao has regained her independence after losing her vision, thanks to a groundbreaking gene therapy injection that, within months, restored her ability to cook, clean, and take walks with ease.
Before the treatment, RP had severely limited her sight to uncertain light perception, forcing her to rely mainly on touch to navigate her surroundings.
But a breakthrough by a team led by Luo Minmin, a professor at the Beijing-based Chinese Institute for Brain Research, has changed the trajectory of Zhao's life.
In 2022, the team serendipitously discovered the remarkable potential of opsin 5 (cOpn5), a unique photosensitive protein derived from chickens. This protein exhibited exceptional sensitivity to visible light, especially within the blue-green spectrum.
Capitalizing on this discovery, Luo's team developed an injectable solution using a recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) as a vector to carry the gene encoding this light-sensitive protein.
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