Seeing the Light

Most of the world’s leading causes of blindness are conditions that damage the eye’s retina. Diabetes, genetic conditions, and aging can all cause the retina to deteriorate, leading to vision loss for millions of people. Because human eyes are so different from the eyes of mice and other animal models, these conditions have been difficult to study. But scientists at U of U Health have opened the door to studying the function of both healthy and diseased retinas in human eyes donated after death. Continue reading → Seeing the Light

Neuronal Connections in the Retina

Bryan Jones, PhD, and colleagues used electron microscopes to visualize the chemical and electrical synaptic connections that makes up the neural network. They further observed, in a transgenic rabbit model of early retinal degeneration, abnormal connectivity in the rod-photoreceptor network and novel synaptic connections derived from sprouting. Continue reading → Neuronal Connections in the Retina