We've are pleased to announce that, as part of a collaborative team, we have identified the gene and mutations responsible for the inherited macular disease known as North Carolina Macular Dystrophy (NCMD). The project was a collaborative effort of 20 scientists, including Kent Small, M.D., a Los Angeles retina specialist and first author of the paper, who has studied NCMD for almost 30 years. This discovery was electronically published on the same date in the journal Ophthalmology (LINK).

This discovery is important because learning the mechanistic details of human macular development may help scientists in the future rebuild injured retinas using stem cells.