Using laboratory-grown roundworms as well as human and mouse eye tissue, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers have identified a new potential mechanism for age-related macular degeneration—the leading cause of blindness among older adults. The UMSOM researchers say that the findings suggest a new and distinct cause that is different from the previous model of a problematic immune system, showing that the structural organization of the eye’s light-detecting cells may be affected by the disease.

The discovery offers the potential to identify new molecular targets to treat the disease. Their discovery was published on April 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

According to the National Eye Institute, more than 14 percent of Americans over the age of 80 have age-related macular degeneration—a condition that leads to the progressive loss of vision with no known cure. Treatment exists for the “wet” version of the disease affecting only 10 percent of those with the condition, meaning most have no options.