Genome Editing in the Retina: A Case Study in CRISPR for a Patient-Specific Autosomal Dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa Model

The future of precision medicine, genome editing has gained momentum in the field of ophthalmology because of the eye’s amenability to genetic interventions. The eye is an ideal target for gene therapy due to its accessibility, ease of noninvasive monitoring, significant compartmentalization, immunoprivileged status, optical transparency, and the presence of a contralateral control. One of the first gene therapy clinical trials was conducted in the eye for a severe form of early-onset retinal dystrophy called Leber congenital amaurosis, and it has encouraged further exploration of this technique as a viable treatment option for other inherited disorders across medical disciplines. This chapter highlights current ocular gene therapy approaches, clinical and preclinical experiments, and provides a case study of the bench-to-bedside personalized medicine approach taken for a novel and rare retinitis pigmentosa mutation.