Spotlight on childhood blindness.

Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a rare disease that severely affects vision in early life. It is characterized by genetic and clinical heterogeneity due to complex and not fully understood pathogenetic mechanisms. It is also now widely known as a disease model for gene therapy. In this issue of the JCI, two independent research groups report valuable new data on LCA. Specifically, they provide important insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms of LCA and offer strong hope that the outcome of gene therapy for retinal degenerative diseases will be successful.