• Question: Why di you decide to study what happens to the cells of the eye when people lose their sight?

    Asked by tarun to Steve on 15 Mar 2011.
    • Photo: Stephen Moss

      Stephen Moss answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      Hi Tarun

      I’ve always worked on cells, and cells of many different types. Like heart cells, skin cells, blood cells and liver cells. And they all have so much in common. So when the opportunity came, about 10 years ago, to move to the Institute of Ophthalmology and work on eye cells, I thought why not? I knew nothing about the eye at the time, but as the eye is made of cells like everything else, I was confident that I’d soon learn the ropes. And then of course, the exciting part of it, and the real challenge, comes from trying to understand what happens to those cells when people go blind. Eye cells can be very specialised and are not easy to work with, but with a lot of us scientists making progress in labs all over the world, we get closer and closer to discovering new treatments that will keep those cells healthy.

Comments