Mitochondria as microlenses in the eye – the evolution of an improved camera sensor

Authors

  • John Ball Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8849-6308
  • Wei Li Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25250/thescbr.brk662

Keywords:

Retina, Mitochondria, Microlens, Microscopy, Hibernation

Abstract

The neurons of the eye that detect light must be very sensitive. They also need ample energy to continuously signal the light they see, so they contain many mitochondria—however, mitochondria scatter light. In our recent study, we show how evolution has found a way to have the best of both worlds: Why not build mitochondria into a lens that helps, rather than hurts, visual sensitivity?

Author Biography

Wei Li, Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health

Principal Investigator, Retinal Neurophysiology Section, NEI, NIH

Original article reference

Ball, J. M., Chen, S., Li, W. (2022). Mitochondria in cone photoreceptors act as microlenses to enhance photon delivery and confer directional sensitivity to light. Science Advances, 8(9). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn2070

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Published

2022-10-21

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 4 (2022)

Section

Neurobiology

License

Some rights reserved 2022 John Ball, Wei Li

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.