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NEI Research News

Thanks to the work of NEI scientists and grantees, we’re constantly learning new information about the causes and treatment of vision disorders. Get the latest updates about their work — along with other news about NEI.

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192 items
Older woman's right eye

New insights: Eye damage in Alzheimer’s disease patients

March 3, 2023

Cedars-Sinai investigators map changes to the retina that correspond to brain changes in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease, opening a path to earlier diagnosis.
A person with diabetes checks their blood sugar

Researchers unravel why episodes of low blood sugar worsen eye disease in people with diabetes

January 26, 2023

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have linked transient low blood sugar levels that occur in people with diabetes with a molecular pathway that is turned on in oxygen-starved cells in the eye.
3D illustration of nanoparticle inside an eye

Nanotechnology may improve gene therapy for blindness

January 11, 2023

Using nanotechnology that enabled mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, a new approach to gene therapy may improve how physicians treat inherited forms of blindness.
Fluorescently labeled injured zebrafish retina.

Study identifies a signaling cascade behind retina regeneration in zebrafish

December 9, 2022

Research from University of Michigan scientists reveals Vegf-Notch signaling system that is activated in the injured retina, gives Muller glia stem cell properties.
retina blood vessels

One of two widely used AMD drugs outperforms other at weaning patients off treatment at one year, preliminary study shows

November 30, 2022

A pilot study of 106 patients with “wet” AMD revealed that nearly half of patients treated with Eylea could safely stop therapy after one year, compared to only 17% of patients treated with Avastin.
Decorative

Putting stem cell-based therapies in context

November 16, 2022

Rogue clinics offer stem cell-based therapies that haven’t been tested for safety and efficacy. When communicating to the public about stem cell-based therapies, it is important to put any treatment claims in context.
Decorative

Seeing in 3D

November 9, 2022

Columbia University researchers examined what goes wrong in the eyes of mice with albinism.
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NEI researchers home in on a new cause of Stargardt disease

October 27, 2022

Using a new stem-cell based model made from skin cells, scientists found the first direct evidence that Stargardt-related ABCA4 gene mutations affect a layer of cells in the eye called the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).
Red, green and blue dots on screen representing RPE protein

NIH scientists discover essential step in recharging the eye’s light-sensing retina

October 26, 2022

Scientists have discovered a mechanism by which an area of a protein shape-shifts to convert vitamin A into a usable form for the eye’s light-sensing photoreceptor cells.
Florescent photo of mouse rod photoreceptor, next to photoreceptor schematic showing cell body, inner and outer segments.

Scientists shine light on how eyes adapt to the dark

October 14, 2022

A basic research study from the National Eye Institute (NEI) explains how the molecule transducin moves within light-sensing rod photoreceptors in mouse retina to help the eye quickly adapt from bright to low light and back.