Sloppy shipping of a donated human retina to an Indiana University researcher studying a leading cause of vision loss has inadvertently helped uncover a previously undetected mechanism causing the disease. The discovery has led researchers to urge review of how millions of dollars are spent investigating the cause of a type of age-related macular degeneration called choroidal neovascularization. Working at IU's Biocomplexity Institute, postdoctoral researcher Abbas Shirinifard had hit a brick wall trying to develop detailed computer simulations of the behaviors and interactions of the cells and membranes composing the rear of the retina and its supporting vasculature. In choroidal neovascularization (CNV), blood vessels that supply the eye with oxygen and nutrients and originate in the choroid just behind the eye abruptly break into the retina and disrupt it.. To see more details visit, www.medicalnewstoday.com
