Wildsoet Lab
From Wildsoet Lab, UC Berkeley
The main focus of our research is refractive development and myopia (short-sightedness). Myopia is a very common ocular disorder, with significant impact on health care costs, related to its management with spectacles, contact lenses and refractive surgery, and to the treatment of its complications, high myopia being a leading cause of blindness.
These complications are largely a result of the greater than normal size of myopic eyes. This overgrowth results in a mismatch between the length of the eye and its optical power, and also results in overstretch of many of the inner ocular tissues. The etiology of human myopia remains poorly understood. Although genetic factors are likely to play a role, the current epidemic of myopia (>90% in some Asian university student populations!), suggests a more complex picture.
The clearest evidence of the role of visual experience in myopia comes from studies in animals. These studies have lead to amazing discoveries, such as that young eyes can discriminate between under-focused and over-focused states and adjust their growth accordingly, and that the choroid, once thought to be simply a vascular layer that nourishes the retina, can itself accommodate to image defocus.
Our lab uses the widely accepted chick model to study myopia. Of the many questions waiting to be answered using this model, ones of interest to us:
- What aspects of visual experience and associated retinal images underlie myopia?
- What are the ocular growth signals and how are they signaled from the retina and sclera?
- How do myopic eyes achieve their enlarged dimensions?
- Is it possible to inhibit myopic growth pharmacologically in ways that may be suitable for use in humans?
We are also working with albino chicks as a model for albinism in human, which interferes with eye growth. We also do human-based research where, again, many questions are ripe for answering, such as:
- Why does excessive near work cause myopia?
- Why are some individuals more susceptible than others?
- Why does myopia sometimes develop asymmetrically?
- What is the role of optical aberrations in myopia development?
This is an exciting and fast moving field of research!
