News by Subject Medicine & Health

A research team from the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear has successfully prevented mice from developing angiogenesis of the retina--the sensory tissue at the back of the eye--using gene-editing techniques with CRISPR-Cas9.

Patients reported improvement in symptoms of eye floaters after treatment with a laser, according to a study published by JAMA Ophthalmology.

Research led by Nicolas Bazan, M.D., Ph.D., Boyd Professor and Director of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health New Orleans, has discovered a new class of mediators, or biochemical triggers that he named elovanoids (ELVs). This discovery provides the first evidence of the existence of elovanoids and of their significant role in protecting and sustaining retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) and photoreceptor cell survival.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified an enzyme present in the cornea that becomes dramatically upregulated and triggers inflammation during and even after a herpes virus infection has cleared.

The surface of the eye is one of the most inhospitable environments for microbes in mammals because tears are loaded with anti-microbials. However, some microbes can live on this sparsely populated tissue and may play a key role in preventing eye infection. NIH researchers reporting in Immunity found that Corynebacterium mastitidis dwells on the eyes of laboratory mice, and that mice with Corynebacterium could fend off invading pathogenic microbes better than mice without it.

An exciting new peer reviewed publication based on ongoing research on macular carotenoids from the University of Georgia demonstrates that supplementation with lutein and zeaxanthin isomers can protect against a growing issue among the general population -- the undesirable effects of prolonged exposure to high-energy blue light emitted from digital screens of computers, tablets and smartphones.