New research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, conducted by researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and UT Health's McGovern Medical School, highlights the development and application of new imaging methods for viewing retinal cells. The research teams were interested in retinal cilia, hair-like fibers that work as light. Higher-resolution viewing techniques allow scientists to see the internal structure of healthy and diseased retinal cilia.

"There is a large group of diseases called ciliopathies that are caused by genetic defects in the components of the structure of cilia. One [sic] the most common symptoms of ciliopathies is retinal degeneration and blindness, such as seen in retinitis pigmentosa and Bardet-Biedl syndrome." – Dr. Theodore G. Wensel, corresponding author, professor and Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry in the Department of Biochemistry at Baylor

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"New imaging methods provide unprecedented close-up view of cilia linked to blindness"