Seeing into the future

Have you ever wondered how we physically view the world around us? Why some people lose their sense of sight? Research has begun to help us understand the mechanisms behind diseases which cause blindness. Current treatment options aren’t working for everyone, therefore the need for further research is essential. At QUB we are continuously investigating eye-related diseases in the hope that we may find more effective therapies.

Unlike imaging the brain, and many other parts of the body, eye imaging is inexpensive, well tolerated and quick. With the ever improving technologies, we can now visualize minute changes in tissue structures as well as single cells in the retina. These advancements come with challenges such as handling large data sets, but the reward outweighs this as we are able to develop new diagnostic and treatment opportunities which we would not have dreamed of, even from a few years ago.

The retina lies at the back of the eye and is made up of many different types of cells which work together to turn light into the images that we see. Each cell has a special job to do and the tools it needs are provided by thousands of different genes. For the first time new technology is allowing us to ‘look’ into each cell and see which genes are active. This tells us how the cells work and what is going wrong in disease. We are starting to use this technology to study how individual cells in the retina are affected by diabetes and therefore find new ways to treat the disease.

Cell Therapy is an exciting area of research, which involves isolation of special cells that reside within different organs and tissues. This research focuses on a population of cells called Endothelial Progenitor Cells, which are known to have an important role in the body, by aiding repair of damaged blood vessels. These cells can be isolated from peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood and then studied in the lab to try to develop a new way to repair damaged blood vessels in diseases such as, diabetic retinopathy, central/branch vein occlusion, and peripheral arterial disease.