Latest News
From the left are Stephan Zuchner, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of genetics; Julia Dallman, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology; Margaret A. Pericak-Vance, Ph.D.; director, John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics; Byron Lam, M.D., professor of ophthalmology; and Rong Wen, Ph.D., research associate professor of ophthalmology.
UM Researchers Identify New Gene Causing Blindness
Work was collaborative effort of several departments at the University of Miami
Researchers led by geneticists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have identified a new gene that causes retinitis pigmentosa, a form of blindness, ending one South Florida family’s nearly 20-year search for what caused three of their four children to lose their sight.
The Lidsky children, who are now in their 30s, began to lose their sight in their teens. Their parents, Betti and Carlos, had the family’s DNA tested for more than 50 retinitis pigmentosa (RP) genes. No one found the link until they began working with UM researchers in late 2009. By the summer of 2010, researchers had found the cause of their retinitis pigmentosa using exome sequencing and confirmed it with zebrafish studies.
