For you to read this article, the eyes have to perform quite the task – light enters the cornea and travels through the pupil and lens to the retina at the back, where light-sensitive cells such as cones and rods then pass things on to the brain vi
, so the cell can perform its functions. But if you remember what they look like from biology class, mitochondria don't seem like the kind of structure that would be very effective at redirecting light.This seemed particularly weird to the researchers, as mitochondria are positioned in the light-sensitive outer segment of the cones in our retina.
"These complex, lipid-rich organelles are also poised to affect light passage into the outer segment,""Here, we show, via live imaging and simulations, that despite this risk of light scattering or absorption, these tightly packed mitochondria 'focus' light for entry into the outer segment and that mitochondrial remodeling affects such light concentration."as their model organism.
The squirrels unfortunately had to be euthanized and their eyes dissected; soon after death, the retina itself was cut into sections and then placed on a microscope slide, removing layers until only the light-sensing cells remained. This meant the researchers could shine light into the photoreceptors with the mitochondria still alive, thus revealing this interesting microlensing effect.
Although mammalian cone cells should all be pretty similar, we can't confirm yet that this is also definitely happening in human cells – more research will have to determine that. But this is looking promising, and it also explains a particular unknown about the mammalian retina.
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