A significant move towards a new therapeutic treatment of glaucoma has been developed by scientists at Trinity College Dublin.
The culmination of more than seven years of research, the experts hope the therapy will also "pave the way to the development of treatments for other forms of blinding eye diseases".
Around 80 million people globally are affected by glaucoma, a common eye condition where the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain, becomes damaged.
It is expected that the number affected will increase to over 110 million people by 2040.
While topical eye-drops are critical in preventing disease progression, up to 10 per cent of patients become treatment resistant, putting them at risk of permanent vision loss.
The main clinical risk factor for glaucoma is elevated intraocular pressure - dangerous increases in pressure in the globe of the eye can lead to serious damage to the optic nerve head, which transmits light signals to the brain to allow us to see.
This elevated pressure is caused by a build-up of unwanted proteins causing a blockage in drainage channels that, over time, can cause fluid to accumulate and pressure to increase.
But the researchers at the Smurfit Institute of Genetics at Trinity, in collaboration with the biotechnology company Exhaura Ltd, have found that a gene therapy-based approach can decrease intraocular pressure in pre-clinical models of glaucoma.
A single injection of a viral vector – essentially a virus the scientists have hijacked with the purpose of using it to deliver specific instructions to cells in the body – can increase the flow of aqueous fluid from the front of the eye and thereby decrease pressure in the eye.
Professor Matthew Campbell, professor in genetics at Trinity said: "This exciting project allowed us to bridge the gap between academia and industry and work very closely with a gene therapy company to develop a cutting edge therapy that we believe holds immense promise for patients in the future".
Dr Jeffrey O'Callaghan, postdoctoral research fellow at Trinity and first author of the study, added: "Our novel approach to treating glaucoma using gene therapy is the culmination of over seven years of research.
"We are now hopeful that this therapy will pave the way to the development of treatments for other forms of blinding eye diseases."
