Scientists Identify New Protein That Drives Age-Related Blindness, Uncover Potential Therapy

"I think we identified something that can target early-stage disease... That’s a big deal..."

Authored by Cara Michelle Miller: Researchers have identified a protein that may prevent age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a new study published in the Developmental Cell on Oct. 2.

AMD is the leading cause of vision loss among older adults, affecting nearly 20 million Americans. As the population ages, this number is expected to rise significantly. Currently, there are no treatments that can stop AMD’s progression.

“I think we identified something that can target early-stage disease. ... That’s a big deal,” the study’s lead author Ruchira Singh, an associate professor of ophthalmology at the University of Rochester in New York, told The Epoch Times.

The study used human stem cells rather than animal models, which may give a more accurate depiction of what is happening in AMD, according to the researchers.

“Older research methods have been limited in their ability to capture important aspects of either healthy or diseased human cells,” Singh noted.

Researchers Identify the Protein Driving AMD

The researchers extracted human stem cells from healthy people and AMD patients and programmed them into cells lining the retina.

Compared to healthy people, AMD patients’ retinal cells overproduced a type of protein called tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 (TIMP3), which leads to a buildup of fats and proteins called drusen. Drusen are a marker of early-stage AMD.

Investigating War Crimes In Gaza, World's First Live Genocide

European Faux Hebrew White Neo-Jews' Israel Regime's Gaza Mega Concentration Camp For Indigenous Christians & Muslims

Al Jazeera English: This feature length investigation by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit exposes the European Faux Hebrew White Neo-Jews' war crimes in the Gaza mega concentration camp through the medium of photos and videos posted online by Israeli soldiers themselves during the year long conflict.

 

The I-Unit has built up a database of thousands of videos, photos and social media posts. Where possible it has identified the posters and those who appear.

 

The material reveals a range of illegal activities, from wanton destruction and looting to the demolition of entire neighbourhoods and murder.

Christian Resistance Against Zionism - Ghadi Francis And Kevork Almassian

"We are actual Semites, the Christians of this land are the Semites of this land, the actual holy land."

vanessa beeley

Never-Ending Middle East Escalator

Story #1: Iran Fires At Least 180 Missiles Into Israel As Regionwide Conflict Grows https://apnews.com/article/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-gaza-news-10-01-2024-eb175dff6e46906caea8b9e43dfbd3da

US Will Ensure Iran Faces ‘Severe Consequences’ For Attacking Israel https://news.antiwar.com/2024/10/01/sullivan-us-will-ensure-iran-faces-severe-consequences-for-attacking-israel/

Sen. Graham Calls For US To Strike Iranian Oil Sites In Response To Attack On Israel https://news.antiwar.com/2024/10/01/sen-graham-calls-for-us-to-strike-iranian-oil-sites-in-response-to-attack-on-israel/

At This Time In The World There Is Only One Important Decision Waiting to be Made

'The neoconservatives’ agenda of hegemony has produced a more dangerous situation than the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Washington has not acted to defuse the crisis.'

By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: Except for the neoconservatives whose agenda it is, I sometimes wonder if I am the only other person who understands what the Ukraine conflict is about. While we await Washington’s decision about firing missiles into Russia, I will explain how we reached the current crisis.

In 2007 Washington declared war on Russia without announcing it. Putin provoked Washington’s secret declaration of war when he rejected Washington’s uni-polar hegemony at the Munich Security Conference.

Washington’s first attack was a year later when, while Putin was distracted at the Beijing Olympics, Washington sent a US trained and equipped Georgian army into South Ossetia. The purpose was not to defeat Russia militarily. Instead, it was a calculated risk that Putin might stand down and to avoid a military conflict that the West could misrepresent as restoring the Soviet Empire, and allow the Russian protectorate to be absorbed into Georgia. The American neoconservatives were gambling with lives not their own that Putin and thereby Russia would be weakened by giving in, thus opening more paths of aggression against Russia.

The neoconservatives’ plot against Putin might have worked except the Georgian invaders killed Russian peace-keepers. In 2008 Putin was trying to resurrect Russian pride, which was lost with the Soviet collapse 1991, and could not turn his back on dead Russian soldiers in South Ossetia. He returned from China, sent in an army, and smashed the US trained and equipped Georgian army in 5 days.