We’re pleased to have news of our discovery published in the Marianas Variety.  Here is the full story below.

 

Local Eye Clinic Discovers Gene for Saipan Eye Disease

The doctors at Marianas Eye Institute, in collaboration with U.S. researches, have discovered a new gene that is the cause of an eye disease that affects families on Saipan.

 

The results of their research was recently published in the scientific journal, Molecular Vision. The article by the team that made the discovery is titled, “Novel TMEM98 mutations in pedigrees with autosomal dominant nanophthalmos.”

 

Dr. David Khorram, the co-founder and prior ophthalmologist at Marianas Eye Institute, initiated the research over 20 years ago, when he noticed an eye disease affecting members of the same Saipan families. “It made sense that there would be a genetic basis for the disease because so many people in the family were affected,” explained Dr. Khorram, “So, with the permission of the family members, we collected blood samples and sent them to the premier genetic eye research center in the U.S.”