All animal procedures were conducted in accordance with the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) statements on the care and used of animals in ophthalmic research. Adult male rd1 mice (>6 weeks of age) were anaesthetised by intraperitoneal injection of ketamine (72 mg/kg) and xylazine (16 mg/kg). The pupils were fully dilated with 1% tropicamide and 2.5% phenylephrine eye drops, and a custom-made ultrafine needle (Hamilton RN needle, 34 gauge) was attached to a 5 μl Hamilton glass syringe and passed at 45 degrees through the pars plana into the vitreous cavity (for intravitreal delivery) or into the subretinal space without retinal perforation (for subretinal delivery). Injections were performed under direct visualisation of the needle tip using an operating microscope (Leica Microsystems), avoiding lenticular contact and blood vessels. Each eye received a total intravitreal dose of 1E+14 genome copies in a 3 μl volume or 2 μl subretinal bleb (6 eyes per vector).