Health & Bio1 min read
Health & Bio
Geneticist's Age-Reversal Technique Restored Sight in Blind Mice, Now in Human Trials
Yuancheng Lu of the Whitehead Institute developed a cellular 'reprogramming' therapy that repaired the optic nerve and restored vision in blind mice; a similar therapy is now being tested in people.
Step by step
- 1
Genetic test flags macular degeneration risk
- 2
Lu develops reprogramming therapy
- 3
Therapy restores vision in blind mice
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Similar therapy enters human trials
Yuancheng "Ryan" Lu, a geneticist at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has spent his career studying aging and the eye — a focus shaped partly by his own family history of age-related blindness and a genetic test that flagged a mutation linked to , a leading cause of vision loss in older age.
Lu developed an age-reversal technique known as that repaired the optic nerves of blind mice and restored their vision. Nearly the same genetic therapy, which he originally developed as a student, has now entered human clinical trials.
Lu was named one of MIT Technology Review's "35 Innovators Under 35" for 2026, in the biotechnology and health category.
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The story so far
- Dogs May Share Human Aging Biomarkers, Dog Aging Project Study Finds
- Tyrosine Amino Acid Tied to Shorter Lifespan in Men, Not Women, Study Finds
- Gene therapy that regrew mice's optic nerves begins human testing
- Children of Centenarians Have a 42% Lower Risk of Death, Study Finds
- Ozempic's Active Drug May Slow Aging in Mice, NIH-Funded Study Finds
- Simple Eye Test Can Predict Success of Laser Surgery for Age-Related Vision Loss
- Geneticist's Age-Reversal Technique Restored Sight in Blind Mice, Now in Human Trials
#aging research#vision#gene therapy#reprogramming
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