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Science Selects Age-related Macular Degeneration as One of the Top Ten Breakthrough Studies of 2006

	Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology Associate Professor Josephine Hoh's research in gene variation contributed to the study of age-related macular degeneration honored as one of the top ten breakthrough studies of 2006 by the magazine Science.

Science has named age-related macular degeneration (AMD) the #6 breakthrough study of 2006. AMD is the most common cause of blindness in people over the age of 50. It causes light-sensitive cells in the retina to break down, resulting in progressive loss of central vision. There are two forms of AMD, the most common is the “dry” form, and the most aggressive form which causes blindness at increased speed is “wet”.

Josephine Hoh, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, was senior author on one of two new studies she published in Science that identified a gene variant which increases the risk for developing the wet form of AMD. A 2005 study of Hoh’s found that both the wet and dry forms of AMD are associated with a variant in the complement factor H (CFH) gene on chromosome 1.

This year, Hoh and her team found a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), a one-base change in the sequence, of the regulatory part of the HTRAI gene on chromosome 10, which leads to an increased risk of developing AMD.

In its review of the breakthrough studies of AMD, Science states that, “Identifying those genes could help physicians determine whether a person is at high risk for AMD and thus should take preventative steps…And by shedding light on the causes of AMD, genetic studies should also provide targets for devising even better therapies.”

—Story by Marcie Foley