Top 10 Discoveries Driving the Race to Restore Sight in 2016

November 30th, 2016 by FFB Canada

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At the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) we are motivated by a singular goal: develop new treatments for blindness and vision loss. This goal fuels all of the research that we fund. Today, we know more about blinding eye diseases than ever before. This knowledge is power because it shows us where to direct our resources…

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Dr. Jean-Sébastien Joyal’s discovery in 2016 has fundamentally changed how we understand wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). His work established several groundbreaking findings—which is why this research was featured on the cover of the prestigious journal Nature Medicine. First, it was shown that photoreceptors use an alternative pathway (lipid β-oxidation), in addition to glucose metabolism, to produce energy. Second, by genetically and pharmacologically manipulating this pathway to simulate nutrient scarcity, researchers were able to show that starving photoreceptors increases production of VEGF – the signaling molecule associated with AMD-causing blood vessel proliferation. Finally, it was shown that this increase in VEGF by energy deficient photoreceptors causes wet AMD-like retinal lesions. These findings provide strong evidence for a previously unknown mechanism underlying wet AMD that will open avenues to future sight-saving treatment strategies.