Blindness in Biological News

Scientists identify the genes that cause blindness produced by corneal edema

This press release is available in French and Spanish . Scientists of the University of Granada (Spain) and the San Cecilio Teaching Hospital (Granada) have determined for the first time the causes for the blindness produced by corneal oedema and have identified the genes which cause it...

Work in mice will contribute to the study of hereditary diseases that lead to blindness

This release is available in Spanish . Researchers of the University of Granada (Spain) have used a technique consisting of the induction of neuronal degeneration neuronal for intense light exposure in the mouse's retina that will be helpful for the study of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a g...

ORNL, Southern Cal set sights on preventing blindness

Blindness in millions of people with diseases that starve eye tissue and nerves of oxygen might be averted with a procedure being developed by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Southern California and the University of Tennessee. The technique uses a new class of s...

Genetic finding implicates innate immune system in major cause of blindness

Scientists have identified one of the genes implicated in age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in developed countries. The research, published online today in the Lancet , adds to the growing understanding of the genetics of age-related macular degeneration (AMD...

Geisinger study: Inflammatory disease causes blindness

DANVILLE, PA. People suffering from a type of connective tissue disease characterized by inflammation of arteries in the head are three times more likely to experience blindness, new Geisinger research shows. In a study published in a recent edition of the Journal of Clinical Pathology , Gei...

Gene therapy for blindness clears hurdle in mice

University of Florida researchers have used an experimental therapy in mice to shut down a gene that plays a crucial role in a leading cause of inherited blindness. The technique, detailed in an upcoming issue of Vision Research, involves injecting the eye with a bit of genetic material called in...

High levels of blindness in southern Sudan following years of war

Surveys conducted in southern Sudan, after conflict there ended in 2004, found much higher levels of blindness than anticipated. The results, published in PLoS Medicine, have major implications for the provision of health services in the region. Sudan is the largest country in Africa and one of t...

Gene therapy works in mice to prevent blindness that strikes boys

University of Florida scientists used a healthy human gene to prevent blindness in mice with a form of an incurable eye disease that strikes boys. Writing in the August issue of Molecular Therapy, scientists from the UF Genetics Institute describe how they successfully used gene therapy in mice ...

'Lucky 13' as new gene discovery offers further hope for childhood blindness

An international research team has discovered a gene that, when mutated, causes one of the most common forms of inherited blindness in babies. Scientists at the University of Leeds, working in collaboration with experts from other centres around the world, identified the gene, which is essential t...

LSUHSC's Bazan awarded ARRA grant to preserve vision

...rmanently lose part or all of their vision. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, eye injury is a leading cause of monocular blindness (blindness in one eye) in the United States. In 2004, about 37,000 eye injuries occurred in the workplace that resulted in one or more days away from ...

'Show me the money!' MDA greenlights grants

...tochondria caused by genetic mutations. Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell and, when they fail, can cause muscle weakness and pain, diabetes, blindness and heart disease, along with other debilitating and/or fatal conditions. Schon's research may provide the key for treating many muscle diseases. ...

Natural compound stops retinopathy

... found a way to use a natural compound to stop one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States. The research appears online this month in the journal... retinopathy is the most common diabetic eye disease and a leading cause of blindness in American adults. It is caused by changes in blood vessels of the retina,...

New supplement may help slow sight loss in elderly

...d develop an antioxidant supplement which may slow down sight loss in elderly people. The supplement may help those affected by the leading cause of blindness in the Western World, a five-year research programme has found. Professor Usha Chakravarthy, from Queen's Centre of Vision and Vascular Science (CVV...

Major breakthrough in early detection and prevention of AMD

...a Ambati at the University of Kentucky has discovered a biological marker for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in older adults. The marker, a receptor known as CCR3, shows strong potential as a means for both the early detection of the disease and for preven...

Study shows CGM devices also benefit people with type 1 diabetes

...search has shown that good blood sugar control is a key factor in reducing the risk of the devastating long-term complications of the disease, such as blindness and kidney disease but that the fear of low blood sugar emergencies often prevents many people from achieving tight control, and remains a constant c...

MIT: Jeremy Nathans to deliver Scolnick Prize lecture

...s cause can lead to different forms of color blindness, and that the red and green pigment genes are on the X-chromosome, which is why red-green color blindness is more common in men than women. In addition to explaining the molecular basis of color vision, the discovery of these pigment proteins and the re...

Laughter remains good medicine

...to examine the effect of "mirthful laughter" on individuals with diabetes. Diabetes is a metabolic syndrome characterized by the risk of heart attack, blindness and other neurological, immune and blood vessel complications. They found that mirthful laughter, as a preventive adjunct therapy in diabetes care, ra...

Laughter remains good medicine

...to examine the effect of "mirthful laughter" on individuals with diabetes. Diabetes is a metabolic syndrome characterized by the risk of heart attack, blindness and other neurological, immune and blood vessel complications. They found that mirthful laughter, as a preventive adjunct therapy in diabetes care, ra...

Stem cell therapy makes cloudy corneas clear, according to Pitt researchers

... the journal Stem Cells and appears online today. The findings suggest that cell-based therapies might be an effective way to treat human corneal blindness and vision impairment due to the scarring that occurs after infection, trauma and other common eye problems, said senior investigator James L. Funderb...

American Chemical Society Weekly PressPac -- April 1, 2009

...standing of these proteins may lead to better drugs and a vaccine for river blindness and other diseases spread by biting insects. Also known as onchocerciasis, river blindness affects more than 17 million people worldwide, particularly in rural Africa...

Eye cells believed to be retinal stem cells are misidentified

...rovide the basis for treatments to restore sight to millions of people with blindness caused by retinal degeneration. Stem cells are immature cells capable of pr...ase. The new findings suggest that research on cell therapies to restore blindness should not concentrate on these eye cells previously believed to be retinal...

Genetic sleuth solves glaucoma mystery

... good gumshoe. The University of Alberta medical geneticist has cracked the case of WDR36, a gene linked to glaucoma. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in which cells in the optic nerve die, preventing the brain from understanding what patients see. Scientists have long suspected a link between WDR36 ...

Cats' eye diseases genetically linked to diseases in humans

... "The same genetic mutations that cause retinal blindness in humans also cause retinal blindness in cats," said Kristina Narfstrom, the Ruth M. Kra... retinal changes that occur and the progression to blindness in cats is similar to what happens in the human di...

Diet could reduce onset of eye disease by 20 percent

...ced by up to 20% by increasing the amount of fruit, vegetables and nuts in the diet. Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the UK, with 45% of those registered as blind suffering from the disease. The condition results in a gradual loss of central vision, due to the fa...

Potential new herpes therapy studied

... put it on once and forget about it," Lewin said. The work is funded by University of Florida Office of Translational Research, Research to Prevent blindness and The Burroughs Wellcome Fund. "I think we've gotten it to the point where it looks promising," Bloom said. ...

Consumers desire more genetic testing, but not designer babies

... The study found that the majority of respondents would elect for the screening of the following conditions: mental retardation (75%), deafness (54%), blindness (56%), heart disease (52%), and cancer (51%). The results indicate that less than half of population (49.3%) would choose testing for a condition tha...

Melatonin may save eyesight in inflammatory disease

...eir eyes, and their vision rapidly deteriorates. Untreated, uveitis can lead to permanent vision loss, accounting for an estimated 10-15% of cases of blindness in the US. Uveitis has a wide variety of causes, including eye injury, cancer, infection, and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and mu...

Gene therapy restores vision to mice with retinal degeneration

... light-sensitive protein in other neuronal cells found throughout the retina. "This is a proof of principle that someday we may be able to repair blindness in people with conditions like retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration," says Richard Masland, PhD, director of the Cellular Neurobiology Labora...

Atomic-resolution views suggest function of enzyme that regulates light-detecting signals in eye

...of the basic mechanisms of PDEs in vision may lead someday to better drug treatment for loss of eyesight from damaged retinas, such as occurs in night blindness and retinitis pigmentosa. ...

LSUHSC awarded patent for compound inhibiting cancer and other diseases

... will be effective in treating other diseases reliant upon angiogenesis. In those diseases, angiogenesis is the root cause of tissue injury, including blindness associated with proliferative retinopathies, skin disorders such as psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Diseases that have been associated with abnor...

The role of stem cells in renewing the cornea

...ity of the cornea, the transparent outer layer of the eye, is critical for vision. Millions of people around the world suffer from partial or complete blindness when their corneas lose transparency. Treatment options involve corneal transplants and, more recently, stem cell therapy. The surface of the cornea i...

Light receptors in eye play key role in setting biological clock, study shows

... number of people are developing visual impairments that can result in sleep disorders. "Currently, one in 28 Americans age 40 and over suffer from blindness or low vision, and this number is estimated to double in the next 15 years," Doyle said. "Our discovery of the switching mechanism in the eye has dire...

August LabBits: A media tip sheet from the MBL in Woods Hole

...ctor may be zinc, a metal abundant in tissues throughout the body. Zinc's relationship to vision was first recognized when it was found that night blindness is associated with zinc deficiency, and recent studies have shown that a diet supplemented with this trace metal can reduce the progression of one for...

Eat oily fish at least once a week to protect your eyesight in old age

... Eating oily fish once a week may reduce age-related macular degeneration (AMD) which is the major cause of blindness and poor vision in adults in western countries and the third cause of global blindness, according to a study published today in the American Journal ...

Smart contact lenses

... a contact-lens shape, and show that it could function as a simple pressure sensor. Glaucoma, a build-up of pressure in the eye, is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. A contact lens that could continuously measure pressure within the eye and relay the data to a computer would allow doctors to learn more a...

Moores UCSD Cancer Center study links vitamin D, type 1 diabetes

...h type 1 diabetes and its complications. About 15,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year, where this disease is the main cause of blindness in young and middle-aged adults and is among the top reasons for kidney failure and transplants in youth and midlife. "This research suggests tha...

Brown to host conference on advances in neurotechnology

... the Brown Institute for Brain Science. "Devices that connect to the nervous system are already helping those with paralysis to move again, those with blindness to see and those with deafness to hear." This year's format will pair patients and specialists in the following disciplines: cochlear (ear) implant...

The coming convergence

...puter chips and environmental sensors embedded into everyday clothing, or medical technologies that eliminate currently untreatable conditions such as blindness and paralysis. Now imagine all of these developments occurring at the same time. Far-fetched? Not so. These are actually the reasonable predictions of...

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- May 14, 2008

...g, and Jennifer Cochran point out that disease or injury to the cornea the clear tissue covering the front of the eye is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. Although treated in developed countries with transplants from donors, cornea transplants are unavailable in many parts of the world due to ...

American Chemical Society’s Weekly PressPac -- May 7, 2008

...l knowledge about the biochemical changes that occur inside the eyes of individuals with diabetic retinopathy (DR) a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in adults. In a study scheduled for the June 6 issue of ACS monthly Journal of Proteome Research, they report discovery of 37 proteins that were incre...