The trabecular meshwork (between the cornea and iris) helps fluid move from the eye into a drainage system, as shown by the red arrows. (credit: U of Miami Atomic Force Microscopy Lab)
Your eye may seem like a fairly static object, but it actually has an elaborate plumbing system. Tissues inside it constantly produce fluid (termed "aqueous humor") that then has to be drained to keep things in balance.
Like our man-made plumbing systems, the ones in our eyes can get backed up. When more fluid is produced than can be drained, pressure can build up in the eye, producing a condition called glaucoma. Over time, this can cause damage to sensitive eye tissue. Of the 60 million people around the globe thought to suffer from glaucoma, 7 million are blind as a result.
There are drugs and surgical means of reducing the pressure within the eye, but none is consistently effective. Now, some researchers in Iowa have found what might be an alternative approach: get the eye to repair the drainage system. They key to doing this? Stem cells.
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