Eye protection
A gene variant may guard against a blinding eye disease that strikes the elderly
By Nathan Seppa
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 A gene called TLR3 may play a pivotal role in the common form of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.
The new finding, reported online August 27 in The New England Journal of Medicine, reveals that roughly three in 10 people harbor a variant form of TLR3 that subdues its normal activity, seeming to provide a partial safeguard against the dry, common form of the eye disease.