After the Congress, some professional comments were:

Gerry Chader, Chief Scientific Officer of the American Foundation Fighting Blindness, summed up - "I am cautiously optimistic, we are turning the corner from basic to clinical science. From the laboratory bench to the bedside".

Peter Humphries, Professor of Genetics at the University of Dublin - "The optimism felt at the Congress reflects a realistic possibility of future therapy. Genuine progress has been made in the fields of gene therapy and other areas but huge problem areas need to be addressed".

Dr Graham Holder, from Moorfields, London - "This is the first time I have been involved in a patient/scientific congress of this nature and I feel privileged to be a part of this fantastic group of people. I cannot imagine a more positive support group".

Professor Bernt Ehinger, University Hospital of Lund, Sweden - "I now feel there is a chance for my dream to come true. That we will be able to control how the cells behave in the retina and prevent these cells from misbehaving".

Trevor Carmichael, Professor of Ophthalmology at Wits (South Africa) - "We now stand at the starting point of clinical trials. The basic work is being done, genetically and clinically".

Professor Raj Ramesar, Associate Professor of Genetics, UCT (South Africa) - "Our optimism needs to be tinged with realism. The new advances in drug delivery and tissue targeted therapies are very promising and are at the point where gene therapy was 10 - 15 years ago. Scientists from other disciplines who were not previously involved in retinal research are now applying their energy to the problems".

The message to all retinal patients is get a good clinical diagnosis and get your DNA banked through your local Retinal Association. When therapy trials become more common, these two criteria might mean your ticket on the therapy train. Don't miss it!