3D retina model reveals cause of vision loss in Batten disease The novel stem-cell derived retinal organoid provided a new understanding of the disease by showing that damage to retinal pigment epithelium cells is enough to cause neurodegeneration of photoreceptors. Written byAllison Whitten, PhD

3D retina model reveals cause of vision loss in Batten disease The novel stem-cell derived retinal organoid provided a new understanding of the disease by showing that damage to retinal pigment epithelium cells is enough to cause neurodegeneration of photoreceptors. Written byAllison Whitten, PhD https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/3d-retina-model-reveals-cause-of-vision-loss-in-batten-disease-17493 In the most common form of Batten disease, known as CLN3 disease due to mutations in the CLN3 (ceroid-lipofuscinosis, neuronal 3) gene, the first symptom is usually loss of vision in early childhood. “It often precedes neurological decline by years, and it's the one that most immediately changes a child's ability to read, learn, and move through the world independently,” Ruchira Singh, a retinal and neurodegenerative researcher at the University of Rochester, told DDN. A rare, fatal inherited disorder of the nervous system, CLN3 disease typically begins in childhood and causes progressive mental and physical decline.