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EYE RESEARCH Schepens Symposium Marks 50th Anniversary The Schepens Eye Research Institute celebrated its 50th anniversary with a symposium that looked ahead to new di-rections in biomedical research. J. Wayne Streilein, president of SERI, said the goal of the symposium was to eschew "the natural tendency to bask in the glow of previous accomplishments" and focus on the future of eye research instead. The conference, which took place from Oct. 5 to 7, began with talks about promising new directions in research and progressed to more specific clinical topics related to the eye. J. Wayne Streilein focused on key areas like angiogenesis that will challenge eye research and care in the future. —Peter Mallen, Schepens Eye Research Institute Nerve Regrowth Fred Gage of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies opened the talks with an overview of neurogenesis in the adult brain. Gage, who helped topple the doctrine that the brain can't grow new neurons, recounted how increasingly sophisticated marking techniques were able to prove that new neurons are present in the adult brain. But although researchers have been able to make a variety of new neurons grow in culture, in vivo studies have been less promising, with new neurons seen to grow primarily in the hippocampus. Gage addressed the question of why certain cells seem to be multipotent while others give rise to only one or two kinds of cell. "To what extent are these all the same cell but just existing in different niches?" he asked. Gage argued that the environment of the cell rather than the cell itself may be the key to understanding neurogenesis and differentiation. "It's the local environment or the niche that is restrictive," he said, giving the example of how transplanted neurons in the eye migrated to the retina and along the optic nerve, though it is unclear if they can function normally. Jerry Shay of the University of Texas pointed out that "the leading cause of blindness is increasing age," and learning how cells die or survive can have a far-reaching impact on disease. Shay gave an overview of telomeres and their role in aging, listing the recent evidence that has linked a cell's age with the length of the highly conserved pieces of DNA that cap each of its chromosomes like bookends. Shay went on to talk about studies using telomerase to extend the life of cells, but also emphasized the potential for telomerase blockers to combat cancer cells, which are immortal. "Inhibition of telomerase might turn out to be a very potent anticancer therapy," he said. Also focusing on cancer, Judah Folkman, HMS professor of pediatric surgery at Children's Hospital, spoke about angiogenesis research, a field that has depended on the cornea as a model system for studying how tumors recruit blood vessels. "We've learned a lot of lessons in tumor biology that extend to angiogenesis of the eye," he said. Folkman cited preliminary evidence that nonangiogenic tumors are more prevalent than previously thought. He argued that understanding the conditions under which tumors become angiogenic may help distinguish life-threatening cancers from potentially harmless ones. Trials and Tribulations Although the speakers were chosen for their work on promising areas of research for the future, some emphasized how preliminary these new directions are. Elizabeth Nabel of the National Institutes of Health talked about the future of gene therapy and the lessons the research community has learned from the controversy surrounding human trials. She argued that there is currently no appropriate vector to carry genes into humans and urged caution in moving forward until vectors are better understood. Streilein said that in looking at new discoveries in biomedical research, three of the body's functions have particular consequences for the eye: replication, angiogenesis, and inflammation. "Each of these areas is a threat to vision," he said, because they can disrupt the delicate balance in the eye that is necessary to protect vision. The rest of the symposium looked more specifically at eye research and clinical developments such as corneal transplantation and ophthalmic imaging techniques. Each session was followed by poster presentations by SERI faculty and alumni, focusing on research in immunology and vision. Streilein emphasized some of the challenges to eye research in the future: researchers need to make progress on understanding diseases that cause blindness, such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, and explore alternatives to invasive treatments. In the 50 years since its inception, SERI has helped make new discoveries about the structure of the eye, its immune system, and the diseases that affect it such as dry eye syndrome. The symposium included tributes to and talks by SERI founder and HMS clinical professor emeritus in ophthalmology Charles Schepens and Claes Dohlman, HMS professor emeritus of ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Schepens developed instruments for ophthalmologists like the indirect ophthalmoscope and advanced techniques of retinal surgery. Dohlman, who contributed to the understanding of the ocular surface of the cornea, gave a talk on discoveries about the cornea since the 1950s. —Courtney Humphries