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Identifying a gene for canine night blindness
four panels of cellular molecules highlighted by fluoroscopy. Right panels show fewer bright green dots but otherwise look similar to those on the left.

Research led by Penn Vet scientists has revealed the gene underlying a form of night blindess that affects dogs. Dogs with the mutation in the LRIT3 gene (right panels) have less of the resulting protein (labeled yellow-green) in the tips of the retina's ON-bipolar cells than unaffected dogs (left panels). (Image: Penn Vet)

Identifying a gene for canine night blindness

An international team of researchers led by the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Keiko Miyadera has identified the gene mutation responsible for a form of night blindness in dogs. Strategies to treat this condition could also inform treatment of other diseases that rely on targeting this cell type.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Is treatment forever? Success of gene therapy for inherited blindness depends on timing
Top-and-bottom show fluorescent, microscopic images of layers of the eye's retina in blue, green, and red.

Canine retinas after successful gene augmentation therapy with RPE65 (red-labeling of the RPE cell layer). When eyes are treated at a stage when photoreceptor numbers are close to normal, there is an arrest of retinal degeneration, and cone (labeled in green) and rod photoreceptors retain normal structure for at least four years following treatment (upper image). If degeneration is ongoing at the time of treatment, there is substantial and progressive loss of photoreceptors in spite of robust RPE65 expression (lower image). (Image: Aguirre Laboratory/Penn Vet)

Is treatment forever? Success of gene therapy for inherited blindness depends on timing

An FDA-approved gene therapy for Leber congenital amaurosis, an inherited vision disorder with a childhood onset and progressive nature, has improved patients’ sight. But new research underscores the importance of further investigation to halt the progression of the disorder.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The diet-microbiome connection in inflammatory bowel disease
a dog and a toddler lay on a carpeted floor looking into each other's eyes.

The diet-microbiome connection in inflammatory bowel disease

Dogs with a Crohn’s-like disease fed a special diet were found to have characteristic changes in their gut microbiomes, paralleling changes seen in children with Crohn’s.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Where ethics, welfare, and sustainability meet swine
pigs in large stalls at new bolton center

Where ethics, welfare, and sustainability meet swine

At New Bolton Center’s model pig farm, free-roaming sows are implanted with RFID chips, nourished by organic feed, and powered by solar energy.

Gina Vitale

Breeding has shaped dogs’ brains, MRI scans reveal

Breeding has shaped dogs’ brains, MRI scans reveal

Wilfried Mai of the School of Veterinary Medicine weighed in on a study that analyzed cognitive differences between dog breeds. “The paper demonstrates very nicely differences in brain morphology with either reduction or hypertrophy [larger size] of certain brain areas that are known to be associated with specific behaviors,” he said.

Thanks to 3D-assisted surgery, this dog survived to comfort his grieving family

Thanks to 3D-assisted surgery, this dog survived to comfort his grieving family

Evelyn Galban of the School of Veterinary Medicine spoke about Penn’s use of 3D-printing technology to practice surgical procedures. “There’s a lot you miss when you’re looking at two dimensions and trying to build the three dimensions in your mind,” she said. “When you can see it and touch it, there’s a tremendous amount of knowledge you wouldn’t get from just looking at a screen.”

Game Commission and Penn Vet partner to protect wildlife
Six deer in a meadow

Game Commission and Penn Vet partner to protect wildlife

The Pennsylvania Wildlife Futures Program will increase disease surveillance, management, and research to better protect wildlife throughout the state from a spread of diseases, including chronic wasting disease and West Nile virus.

Penn Today Staff