Retina receptors (RR) are very small parts of the human eye that play a significant role in vision. When affected by diseases such as diabetes, complications may cause severe vision disorders and even blindness. However, Raju Rajala, Ph.D., the leader of the research team that conducted this most recent study, believes they have managed to successfully synthesize a working model for these receptors. This, in turn, would help biologists develop new ways of treatment for eye disfunctionalities caused by diseases, as is the case with retinopathy and diabetes.

 

Basically, the research team at the Oklahoma University (OU) wanted to create a replica of a rod-like receptor found in retina tissue, which is believed to be influenced by various concentrations of insulin and some types of protein. When these RRs don't work, blindness occurs, as they are responsible for converting light inside the eye to electric impulses for the brain.

 

Most Americans that go blind every year suffer from diabetes, which seems to profoundly influence these receptors. If the blood vessels on the retina are over-sized or if they swell and leak fluid, then blurred vision occurs, in various stages, according to the gravity of the lesions inside the eye. When the blood vessels or the receptors are damaged beyond repair, the brain no longer receives electrical impulses to convert to sight.

 

The chances that doctors created a viable cure for such cases were entirely dependent on cultivating sufficient amounts of receptors for analysis. With these new, artificial ones, biologists can experiment freely, and offer many new insights on how exactly light is transformed into energy when hitting the retina.

 

Rajala said that the most optimistic predictions place the development of a functional anti-blindness drug somewhere 15 years from now. However, remember that this drug would be designed especially for combating diabetic retinopathy, which is the leading cause of blindness in the U.S. Other sever eye diseases could also be treated in the future, once techniques to properly analyze conditions inside the eye are put in place.