NEI Research News

When we move our head, the whole visual world moves across our eyes. Yet we can still make out a bee buzzing by or a hawk flying overhead, thanks to unique cells in the eye called object motion sensors.

The inflammatory eye disorder autoimmune uveitis occurs when a person’s immune system goes awry, attacking proteins in the eye.

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a pathway that leads to the formation of atypical blood vessels that can cause blindness in people with age-related macular degeneration.

Loss or defects of a protein previously shown to play a key a role in cataract, the clouding of the lens that commonly strikes people in their seventies, has now been shown to contribute to presbyopia.

Spider-like cells inside the brain, spinal cord and eye hunt for invaders, capturing and then devouring them. These cells, called microglia, often play a beneficial role by helping to clear trash and protect the central nervous system against infection.

Researchers funded in part by the National Eye Institute (NEI) have identified a protein involved in an advanced stage of diabetic retinopathy, a diabetic eye disease that threatens vision.

The Liberia-U.S. clinical research partnership known as PREVAIL has launched a study of people in Liberia who have survived Ebola virus disease (EVD) within the past two years.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a neural circuit in the retina that enable the eye to detect movement.

Researchers have identified a previously unknown gene mutation that underlies achromatopsia, an inherited eye disorder.

Much like the automatic focus of a camera, our eyes and brains must constantly recalibrate so that we can get a clear view of the changing—and always moving—world around us.