FILE - A doctor examines the eye of a patient. Researchers believe algae could be the solution to fixing blindness after one patient who received an experimental treatment had his vision partially restored, according to a recent study. "Optogenetics may enable mutation-independent, circuit-specific restoration of neuronal function in neurological diseases," according to the study, published in "Nature Medicine"this month.
For the study, doctors were treating a patient with retinitis pigmentosa, which impacts more than two million people worldwide, the study’s authors said.
Retinitis pigmentosa is a "neurodegenerative eye disease where loss of photoreceptors can lead to complete blindness," the study said. RELATED: Langhorne man sees.