Researchers from the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Pennsylvania State University, and Jinan University in China have collaborated on a study to restore vision after stroke in mice using gene therapy, a press release from Purdue University said.

A stroke is a medical condition when an artery in the brain is blocked preventing tissues in the area from getting oxygen and nutrients. The oxygen-starved cells die leading to a loss of function. On most occasions, a stroke patient loses the ability to move a part of his body but in many cases, it affects their vision too.

The neuronal network is flexible though and can sometimes repair itself to restore vision in stroke patients. In the past, scientists have attempted stem cell therapy to restore vision but a patient's immune system can reject these treatments due to immune mismatches. Professor Alexander Chubykin is an expert on neurons and under his guidance, the team decided to use gene therapy instead.