Unlocking the secrets of sight loss with the Seahorse Bioanalyser 

Thank you very much to everyone who supported the purchase of this critical piece of equipment for the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology.

The Seahorse Bioanalyser will facilitate multidisciplinary approaches to work towards improving the understanding, prevention, and treatment of vision disorders. 

Mitochondria are the batteries of the cell and supply the energy that eye cells need to grow, work and survive. The Seahorse Bioanalyser measures the performance of the mitochondria which corresponds to the metabolic health of the cell. 

Damage to the mitochondria is a contributing factor behind many major eye conditions. Being able to monitor the work of mitochondria in the eye cells would provide crucial insight into mechanisms of diseases.

This could lead to the development of new drugs that target mitochondria. It would allow for more therapeutic approaches for patients living with eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and inherited eye diseases.

The Seahorse Bioanalyser will allow researchers to better understand what is happening on a metabolic level in a patient’s eye cells.

It can help determine whether the cells are generating enough energy to survive and to keep the retina healthy and working to allow us to see.

The equipment will allow researchers to do high throughput investigations, testing samples from many patients and how they respond to different treatments.

Analysing a large range of patient’s samples will aid the researchers in unpicking biological pathways and disease mechanisms.

Researchers will be able to manipulate cells to answer very specific questions, analysing the results in only a few hours.

The data generated by the Seahorse Bioanalyser will facilitate deeper understanding of the mechanisms leading to dysfunction and cell death. This in turn could inform the design of new treatments for people with sight loss.

We want to improve treatment outcomes for patients living with a range of eye conditions. The Seahorse Bioanalyser will help us do this.

Research is always at the forefront of our work, and this purchase will mean better care for future generations.