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Shut Eye
29 April 2018

Shut Eye

Growing an eyeball is a tricky task, and problems with any aspect of the process can cause blindness. By studying a rare form of childhood blindness called superior coloboma – characterised by a gap in the upper part of the iris – scientists have discovered a previously unknown structure in a growing eyeball that forms and then vanishes at a particular point in development. These images show a structure called the optic cup in a zebrafish embryo – this structure will eventually form the eyeball, and it develops in the same way as a human eye. The pink tube is a blood vessel fitting into a newly-identified groove called the superior optic sulcus. Both the vessel and groove are temporary fixtures, normally disappearing later on in development. But certain genetic faults mean that the gap fails to close properly, causing the same kind of eye problems found in children with superior coloboma.

Written by Kat Arney

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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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