GAINESVILLE, Fla., July 26 (UPI) -- Preventing blindness caused by macular degeneration has been made easier after Florida researchers discovered a genetic similarity to humans in rhesus monkeys.
Researchers at the University of Florida pinpointed a chromosome region and genetic markers for macular degeneration in both species that allows researchers to study how it progresses in the animals.
William Dawson, a Florida professor of ophthalmology and physiology and a co-author of the study, said monkeys age three to four times faster than humans, making it easier to track the progression of the disease. The monkeys also can remain in a controlled environment to test non-genetic factors, and their families can be studied more extensively.
"It's difficult to follow closely the aging of a human over a specific period of time," he said. "People wouldn't tolerate a controlled (living) environment for weeks and years."
According to the National Eye Institute, nearly 2 million people in the United States have advanced age-related macular degeneration, and 7 million others have an intermediate form of the disease.
The findings were published this week in the online edition of the journal Experimental Eye Research.
