Seeing is Believing

Are these the veins of a leaf? Or maybe a strange map? In fact this is the delicate network of blood vessels in the light-sensitive layer at the back of a mouse's eyeball, known as the retina, artificially coloured and viewed down a microscope. The retina is packed with light-sensing cells as well as nerve cells that send signals to the brain telling it what the animal is seeing, and they need plenty of oxygen and nutrients from the blood. Researchers are studying how these fragile tubes grow in order to understand more about what can go wrong if there are problems with the heart or circulation. For example, high blood pressure can cause damage or tiny blood clots can get stuck in them, leading to sight loss.

Written by Kat Arney

Kat Arney

Writer

Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

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• Image by Graeme Birdsey
• Imperial College London
• Copyright held by original author
• Runner Up in the British Heart Foundation's Reflections of Research Image Competition