EDITORIAL

Gene therapy

Gene therapy: new "magic bullets" to prevent ocular scarring

P T Khaw, A D Cambrey, G A Limb and J T Daniels

Wound Healing Research Unit, Epithelial Repair and Regeneration Group, Divisions of Pathology, Cell Biology and Glaucoma, Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
P T Khaw, Wound Healing Research Unit, Glaucoma Unit and Divisions of Pathology and Cell Biology, Moorfields Eye Hospital and Institute of Ophthalmology, Bath Street, London EC1V 9EL, UK;
p.khaw@ucl.ac.uk

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Will the advances in modern molecular biology open doors to new therapies?

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Keywords: gene therapy; ocular scarring

The processes involved in ocular scarring play a part in either the pathogenesis or failure of treatment of most of the major blinding diseases in the world. These processes include capsular opacification and contraction after cataract surgery. Although posterior capsular opacification is relatively easily treated with laser, this biological process poses great problems following cataract surgery in developing countries, and will inhibit the development of a true accommodating lens replacement. The retinal scarring that occurs in proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) and macular degeneration is also an important example of the blinding scarring process.

The scarring process following glaucoma filtration surgery is one of the best examples of the importance of being able to control healing in virtually all patients having a particular procedure. Recent data from the NIH advanced glaucoma intervention study (AGIS)¹ have shown that individuals with the lowest intraocular pressures (average 12.3 mm Hg) had virtually no . . . [Full text of this article]

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