Current trends in gene therapy for retinal diseases (Review)

The eye is considered an effective target for genetic therapy, as it has a privileged immune status, it is easily accessed for medication delivery and it is affected by a number of inherited disorders. In particular, the retina is considered for gene therapy due to the fact that it can be visualized with ease, it does not have lymphatic vessels, nor a direct blood network for the outer layers and its cells do not divide after birth, and thus transgene expression is not affected. As gene therapy is currently on a continuously progressive development trend, this emerging field of gene manipulation techniques has yielded promising results. This involves the development of treatments for a number of debilitating and blinding diseases, which were to date considered intractable. However, numerous unanswered questions remain as regards the long-term efficacy and safety profile of these treatments. The present review article discusses the current research status regarding genetic manipulation techniques aimed at addressing visual impairment related to retinal disorders, both inherited and degenerative.