However, because anti-angiogenic treatment is only required within a relatively short therapeutic window for ROP (until retinal vascularization is achieved), and given that there are concerns about long-term VEGF suppression in developing infants, gene-based therapeutics for this purpose may not be ideal (Mintz-Hittner et al., 2011; Stahl et al., 2019). Here, VEGFA is linked to retinopathy of prematurity.