FG Roska PRE3

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a key role in numerous eye diseases, including LHON and retinitis pigmentosa, but also contributes to AMD. MitoCatch, a new technology developed at the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB), uses protein binders to deliver healthy mitochondria specifically to disease-affected cells. Prof. Botond Roska and Dr. Temurkhan Ayupov explain how MitoCatch works, how it could help treat LHON, and potentially geographic atrophy, and when first clinical trials might begin. Prof. Botond Roska is founding director of the IOB, where he leads the "Human Retinal and Central Visual Circuits" research group. His research focuses on understanding vision and its diseases and on developing new therapies for the visually impaired. His group developed the technology for cell type-targeted optogenetic vision restoration and for cell type-targeted mitochondrial therapy. Dr. Temurkhan Ayupov is Head of the Mitochondrial Biology and Therapy Group at IOB, where his team investigates how damaged mitochondria drive neuronal degeneration in the eye and brain. His team developed MitoCatch and he is lead author of the team's 2026 Nature publication on the approach.