Home » News and Events » NEI-funded Research in the News
NEI-funded Research in the News
Glaucoma Check-Ups Lag in Hispanics
December 12, 2012
The odds of individuals with open-angle glaucoma undergoing visual field testing decreased for all racial/ethnic groups from 2001 through 2009, but the odds decreased the most for Hispanic men and women in a study of enrollees in a large U.S. managed care network.
Cells from Skin Create Model of Blinding Eye Disease
December 10, 2012
For the first time, University of Wisconsin researchers have taken skin from patients and, using induced pluripotent stem cell technology, turned them into a laboratory model for an inherited type of macular degeneration.
Research On Blood Vessel Proteins Holds Promise for Controlling 'Blood-Brain Barrier'
December 7, 2012
Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers have shed light on the activity of a protein pair found in cells that form the walls of blood vessels in the brain and retina, experiments that could lead to therapeutic control of the blood-brain barrier and of blood vessel growth in the eye.
Researchers See The Light in Bid to Restore Lost Vision
December 5, 2012
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of California at Los Angeles recently created a light-sensitive molecule that they say could help restore vision lost in degenerative eye diseases, such as macular degeneration, and reduce epileptic seizures.
Rosemary May Help Prevent Eye Disease
November 27, 2012
A substance in rosemary may have clinical applications for diseases affecting the retina, including age-related macular degeneration, U.S. researchers say. Dr. Stuart A. Lipton and colleagues at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute said carnosic acid, a component of the herb rosemary, promotes eye health.
Immunity May Play Role in Eye Disease
November 27, 2012
"Our findings are epigenetic in nature, meaning that the underlying DNA is normal but gene expression has been modified, likely by environmental factors, in an adverse way," Dr. Robert Nussenblatt, chief of the National Eye Institute Laboratory of Immunology, part of the National Institutes of Health, said in a statement.
Architecture of Rod Sensory Cilium Disrupted By Mutation
November 21, 2012
Using a new technique called cryo-electron tomography, two research teams at Baylor College of Medicine have created a three-dimensional map that gives a better understanding of how the architecture of the rod sensory cilium (part of one type of photoreceptor in the eye) is changed by genetic mutation and how that affects its ability to transport proteins as part of the light-sensing process.
Neurons Made From Stem Cells Drive Brain Activity after Transplantation
November 15, 2012
Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have found a way to stimulate stem cell-derived neurons to direct cognitive function after transplantation to an existing neural network by using optogenetic stimulation - getting us a step closer to using these cells to treat Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.
Engineering a Photo-Switch for Nerve Cells in the Eye and Brain
November 14, 2012
Chemists and vision scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago have designed a light-sensitive molecule that can stimulate a neural response in cells of the retina and brain -- a possible first step to overcoming degenerative eye diseases like age-related macular degeneration, or to quieting epileptic seizures.
Study Examines Genetics, Incidence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration
November 9, 2012
Dr. Ronald Klein, of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and colleagues describe the relationship of age and risk alleles (variant gene forms) with the incidence and progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) during a 20-year period. They conclude the overall five-year incidence of early AMD was 9.1 percent and late AMD was 1.6 percent.
