Delivery of Genes to the Eye Using Lentiviral Vectors

The primary aim of gene transfer into the retinal cells has been to investigate the developmental mechanisms of the retinal cells or to reverse retinal diseases. Retroviruses have been used to investigate the differentiation of retinal cells, to study the embryonic retina in vivo or explant organ culture, and to trace the fate of the cells that were dividing at the time of gene transfer (1 –5 ).