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Clear as Day
20 September 2016

Clear as Day

The more light your eyes can take in, the better the picture you see, and the lens at the front of your eye is transparent to help this. Most body cells contain lots of membranes – they have important roles like manufacturing cellular components, but they scatter light and aren’t transparent. Cells in the lens become transparent by losing all but their most vital internal membranes as they develop and move towards the middle of the lens: the central cells (shown here in a chick’s eye) are flatter, with rounder nuclei (blue). It wasn’t known how the membranes were lost until recently, when scientists discovered a structure called the excisosome. This forms inside cells and breaks down the membranes, possibly by stripping them apart into the proteins and lipids they’re made of. Current research implies that excisosomes form in the lenses of all animals, helping us understand how our eyes develop.

Written by Esther Redhouse White

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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