Outer retinal disease is the most common cause of blindness in the UK. It can be caused by a variety of single gene defects, including conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa which often result in early onset blindness in childhood, whilst age related macular degeneration is caused by complex multigene defects causing visual loss in later life. Treatments are evolving for both diseases but the underlying pathogenesis and treatment of the fundamental abnormalities often remains elusive. We want to find out what causes retinal dystrophies and investigate whether new retinal cells could be grown from skin samples that could then be potentially used to investigate new treatments for these conditions. To understand what causes retinal dystrophies we collect hair and skin samples from patients with the condition.