▁the ▁Mo or fields ▁– ▁U CL ▁Institute ▁of ▁O ph th alm ology ▁Bi omed ical ▁Research ▁Centre , ▁which ▁was ▁then ▁the ▁special ist ▁B RC ▁for ▁O ph th alm ology . ▁ ▁His ▁current ▁clin ical ▁and ▁labor atory ▁research ▁efforts ▁focus ▁on ▁the ▁forms ▁of ▁blind ness ▁which ▁are ▁to ▁date ▁in cur able . ▁By ▁understanding ▁the ▁causes ▁of ▁ret inal ▁deg ener ation , ▁it ▁may ▁be ▁possible ▁to ▁slow , ▁arrest ▁or ▁am el ior ate ▁the ▁processes . ▁The ▁ult imate ▁aim ▁is ▁then ▁to ▁reverse ▁such ▁effects ▁and ▁to ▁restore ▁working ▁vision . ▁The ▁research ▁efforts ▁concent rate ▁on ▁two ▁areas ▁of ▁the ▁eye ▁in ▁particular : ▁the ▁ret inal ▁p ig ment ▁ep ith el ium ▁( R PE ), ▁and ▁the ▁phot ore cept ors . ▁The ▁N LO ▁C lin ical ▁O ph th alm ology ▁Research ▁Group ▁(' the ▁Mac L aren ▁Group ') ▁is ▁looking ▁at ▁replacement ▁methods ▁for ▁each , ▁and ▁for ▁both , ▁to ▁improve ▁patient ▁out comes . ▁Electron ic ▁ret inal ▁impl ants ▁have ▁already ▁been ▁tri alled ▁to ▁treat ▁ret init is ▁p ig ment osa , ▁and ▁tri als ▁are ▁now ▁being ▁conducted ▁to ▁treat ▁ch oro ider emia ▁through ▁gene - ther apy : ▁impl ant ing ▁missing ▁or ▁fault y ▁gen es ▁to ▁correct ▁ret inal ▁d yst roph ies ▁( in her ited ▁conditions ). ▁ ▁As ▁well ▁as ▁ret inal ▁issues , ▁research ▁is ▁undert aken ▁to ▁improve