Submission + - New Cell Type Implicated in Vision (sciencemag.org)
sciencehabit writes: Researchers have discovered that a very rare cell in the eye may help us sense the brightness of our surroundings. Rods and cones were long thought to be solely responsible for our vision, but the rare cells, called melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells or mRGCs, can sense variations in brightness across the visual field that might allow them to distinguish between a dark wall and a brightly lit doorway. If these unheralded cells are as important as the authors suspect, studying them may open the door to new therapies for some forms of blindness.
