The human body has highly impressive mechanisms to protect itself from harm. For example, a group of molecules known as the complement system work with antibodies to kill invading bacteria by punching holes in them and letting the internal contents leak out.
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Archive for the Genetics Category
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Now that VISIONS 2012 is over, we’re sharing with the world what attendees witnessed at the conference’s awards dinner Saturday night – an unveiling of FFB’s new logo:
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Most everyone with an inherited retinal degenerative condition eventually asks the questions, “How do I find out what gene is causing my disease, and how can that information help me today?”
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We live in a time when it’s often easier and cheaper to replace something than to fix it. Whether you have a broken TV, camera or vacuum cleaner, you’re more likely to buy a new one than to take it into the shop to have it repaired. Often, you don’t have much of a choice; there aren’t many repair shops left.
Tel Aviv, Israel
Now that I’m back from my trip to Israel, I wanted to offer a couple more posts about my visit, the first covering a fascinating research conference in Tel Aviv.
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Tel Aviv, Israel
Next week is a big week for both me and the Foundation. I’ll be heading to Israel, for the first time in my life, to visit with Foundation business and research partners. So the next couple blog posts you see will come straight from places like Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Each of our genes is like an instruction manual. It tells the body how to make the proteins that carry out a specific function. So when a gene is defective, the instructions for that function are missing. Defective genes are the cause of most of the retinal degenerations the Foundation targets. Over the last 40 years, the Foundation has helped to identify almost 200 of those genes, so, as you can imagine, we’re big on genetic testing; find the defective gene, and you can begin to learn how to treat the retinal degeneration. And because genes are shared by families, genetic histories are a must.
Steve is highly respected for his expertise and tireless commitment to finding treatments and cures for vision-robbing retinal diseases. 
As the Foundation's senior science writer, Ben writes science and research articles for the Foundation’s website, newsletters and Eye on the Cure blog. 
As the Foundation's senior writer, Rich writes and edits content for all of the Foundation’s print and online publications, including its blog, Eye on the Cure. 
Researchers Find 50 Genes Linked to AMD, But What Does It Really Mean?
By Dr. Steve Rose on April 3, 2012 | 0 Comments
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