Researchers have created a new approach to develop personalised gene therapies for patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) a leading cause of vision loss. The approach the first of its kind takes advantage of induced pluripotent stem cell technology to transform skin cells into retinal cells which are then used as a patient-specific model for disease study and preclinical testing. (Read: Health tips for regular spectacle-wearers) Using this approach researchers from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) showed that a form of RP caused by mutations to the gene MFRP (membrane frizzled-related protein) disrupts the protein that gives retinal cells their structural