Researchers study fly vision to find clues to human eye health

February 24, 2010

Scientists recently began studying the vision of fruit flies, which they believe could mirror the eye health problems that humans face.

According to findings published in the journal Current Biology, researchers have discovered a visual cycle that occurs in fruit flies, in which retinal dystrophies occur as a result of inherited defects. The biochemical reactions have been known to occur in humans, but researchers were never able to link it to insects.

Researchers began to look at why the flies would lose their vision, and noted that light-sensitive molecules were not regenerating, which ultimately caused the retina to die. This process could lead to vision loss.

The scientists noted that when the fly eye was given pigment-cell-enriched dehydrogenase (PDH), their vision improved. These findings gave hope to developing new treatments for humans with retinal degeneration.

"This research opens the door to using flies as a way to look for drugs to reduce human retinal degeneration due to defects in the visual cycle," said study author, Dr Craig Montell.

However, the scientists noted that more studies must be done in order to properly treat individuals with failing vision.