Disease-causing gene network and novel therapies for retinal degeneration
Retinal degeneration is a group of incurable eye diseases including retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration that affects our vision. Much has been learned about the molecular basis of these diseases, but the number of treatments for improving the deteriorated vision is still scarce. To this end, our group at Purdue University studies zebrafish models of human retinal degeneration to expedite discovery of novel treatments. Zebrafish has a number of advantages that are particularly suitable for eye disease research. For example, it is a vertebrate model that has a good color vision, rapid embryonic development and large clutch size. Together with a much cheaper maintenance cost compared with other established animal models, zebrafish has a unique competitive edge to be a sustainable research model in the years to come.
The research interests of our lab are currently focused in two directions:
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for retinal degeneration |
retinal degeneration |