DMMC Course: MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY IN ACTION

1110-1230 Monday 21 February 2005. Conway Institute Lecture Theatre, UCD

Eye development and biology in Zebrafish Dr Breandán Kennedy, UCD

The goal of this lecture is to demonstrate how molecular biology has been applied to improve our understanding of eye development. The lecture will describe the current molecular cascade regulating vertebrate eye development, and will illustrate how these factors were identified. “Master” regulators of eye development will be described including pax6 which can induce “ectopic” eyes in other parts of the body, and Rx which when inactivated results in animals (including humans) in which eyes fail to form. The lecture will also explain the relevance of eye development to human eye diseases and to potential stem cell therapies.