Today's Research, Tomorrow's Answers
1. Eat your carrots to improve your vision!
2. Don't read in poor lighting!
3. Sitting too close to the television can damage a child's eyes!
These are all false statements.
Human eyes are amazing and resilient pieces of sensory equipment. Poor lighting, computer use, or sitting too close to the TV can lead to eye strain and headaches, but won't permanently hurt your eyes.
Your eyes are truly your window to the world. Images are formed on your brain when light enters your eyes. Light passes through the cornea, pupil, and lens, landing on the retina. The irisÑthe color portion of your eyeÑregulates the amount of light able to enter your eye. In bright light, the pupil is smaller, allowing in less light. In dark or shadowy areas, the pupil opens to allow more light to enter.
If you look at something close up, the lens in your eye will become thicker, but when you look at something far away, the lens will thin out. This means you can see images clearly no matter how close or far they are.
Once light hits your retina, it reaches millions of tiny cells called cones and rods. Cones tell you the different colors you see while rods register shapes and respond to low levels of light. These images are then transmitted to the brainÑupside down. It is the brain's job, not the eye, to translate the information into something you understand.
Today's Research, Tomorrow's Answers
Macular degeneration — A UI Center for Macular Degeneration team reports that a gene called fi bulin 5 is associated with 1.7 percent of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) cases. This finding could help researchers develop preventive treatments for people affected by this particular form of AMDÑat least 100,000 in the U.S. alone. The discovery may also point the way to preventing vision loss in millions of people affected by the many other forms of AMD.
Glaucoma — Understanding the molecular basis of glaucoma should help researchers better understand why the nerve undergoes damage. The UI leads the world in the study of the molecular genetics of glaucoma. UI researchers found that mutations in the gene myocilin could cause primary open angle glaucoma. This was the first gene reported to cause the most common type of glaucoma.
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