Study of fish eyes holds key to curing nearsightedness and farsightedness

Did you know that most people who are near-sighted have eyes that are larger than normal and that people with far-sightedness have eyes that are smaller than normal? If scientists could determine how to regulate eye size, fewer people would need eyeglasses and contact lenses. A team of researchers led by an undergraduate student discovered an enzyme's role in the regulation of eye size in fish. This discovery could lead to a better understanding of human vision problems if the enzyme plays a similar role in human eyes. Zebrafish were used in the study and what the researchers discovered is that the enzyme thyroid peroxidase affected the eye size of the fish. When different inhibitors were used on the fish, the inhibitors that halted production of thyroid peroxidase resulted in smaller eye size. Vision problems are caused by changes in the size or shape of the eye and researchers have been unable to determine what causes these changes. This study will hopefully lead to a better understanding of what causes these changes and lead to new treatments for nearsightedness and farsightedness.*