UK Biobank project that our Ophthalmology Clinical Lead, Danny Mitry is involved with, focuses on Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), a common sight threatening condition that affects over 7,000 people annually in the UK. The UK Biobank represents an unrivalled resource enabling detailed analyses in genetic risk and disease association. Using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), markers of genetic variation, Mitry and his colleagues will extend an assembled genetic database and perform a large, case-control genome wide association study on RRD cases and population-matched controls. This research has the potential to identify new pathways in the disease process and with this, the potential or new therapeutic targets aimed at the prevention or treatment of this blinding condition.
