Fruit Fly Reveals Clues to Blinding Diseases

"Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and collaborators have discovered a powerful new protein in the eye of the fruit fly that may shed light on blinding diseases and other sensory problems in humans," according to Midwest Lens. Reporting in the Nov. 16, 2011, issue of Neuron, the scientists note that similar but yet-to-be-identified proteins in the eye and brain could help explain age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, as well as Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and prion diseases." Read more.