London -- A Government funded trial to treat inherited blindness by administering gene therapy to the human retina has proved successful, researchers have announced.

The trial at the Moorfields Eye Hospital/UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre was supported by the Department of Health.

The trial has shown that the sight of a patient with Leber's congenital
amaurosis (LCA), a type of inherited retinal degeneration which causes progressive deterioration in vision and blindness in teenagers, has made a major improvement.

This is the first major outcome from the 12 Biomedical Research Centres which were set up by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). These centers work in major areas of ill-health and clinical need to speed up the translation of fundamental science into benefits for patients.

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said: "This is a major achievement for British science and the NHS and shows we truly are at the forefront of innovation. The success of this research has huge implications for sufferers of this condition, as well as for a much larger group of inherited retinal diseases which affect 1 in 3,000 people.

"This kind of research is absolutely vital for the health and wellbeing of the nation. The Government's financial commitment to the NIHR underpins the contribution of the NHS to international scientific excellence and is helping to keep England at the top of the world biomedical research league table."