Scatterings
Cells Act as Optical Fibers in the Eye
New research shows that light is gathered and directed through the tissue to the photosensors by cells that act as optical fibers.
Long, funnel-like Müller cells act as optical fibers, guiding light through the retina to photosensitive cells.
Even when cells don’t absorb light, they tend to scatter it. This makes the structure of eyes in vertebrates a puzzle, since several layers of randomly oriented, scattering cells cover most of the back of the eye, before light arrives at the photosensitive cells in the retina. But new research shows that light is gathered and directed through the tissue to the photosensors by cells that act as optical fibers.
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