PUBLICATION

A Life in Vision

Authors
Dowling, J.E.
ID
ZDB-PUB-180918-7
Date
2018
Source
Annual review of vision science   4: 1-23 (Review)
Registered Authors
Dowling, John E.
Keywords
autobiography, dark adaptation, dopamine, inherited retinal degenerations, retinal circuitry, vitamin A, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Biomedical Research/history
  • History, 20th Century
  • History, 21st Century
  • Humans
  • Ophthalmology/history*
  • Vision, Ocular*
PubMed
30222531 Full text @ Annu Rev Vis Sci
Abstract
I was drawn into research in George Wald's laboratory at Harvard, where as an undergraduate and graduate student, I studied vitamin A deficiency and dark adaptation. A chance observation while an assistant professor at Harvard led to the major research of my career-to understand the functional organization of vertebrate retinas. I started with a retinal circuit analysis of the primate retina with Brian Boycott and intracellular retinal cell recordings in mudpuppies with Frank Werblin. Subsequent pharmacology studies with Berndt Ehinger primarily with fish focused on dopamine and neuromodulation. Using zebrafish, we studied retinal development, neuronal connectivity, and the effects of genetic mutations on retinal structure and function. Now semi-retired, I have returned to primate retinal circuitry, undertaking a connectomic analysis of the human fovea in Jeffrey Lichtman's laboratory.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping