Medics in the UK have become the first in the world to successfully administer a pioneering gene therapy that preserves sight in young children with an extremely rare genetic condition that usually causes blindness in the first few years of life.The patients, who were essentially blind at birth, can now see shapes, find toys, recognise faces, and in some cases, can even read and write.The procedure, which takes around an hour, involves injecting healthy copies of the affected gene into the back

Medics in the UK have become the first in the world to successfully administer a pioneering gene therapy that preserves sight in young children with an extremely rare genetic condition that usually causes blindness in the first few years of life.The patients, who were essentially blind at birth, can now see shapes, find toys, recognise faces, and in some cases, can even read and write.The procedure, which takes around an hour, involves injecting healthy copies of the affected gene into the back of one eye to "kick start" sensitivity.The condition is so rare that the first children to have the therapy were selected from overseas.Specialists hope it can be made more widely available in the UK and elsewhere as a licensed treatment.