The discovery of a crucial trigger for dry macular degeneration (AMD) – an enzyme called cGAS – could lead to the development of a drug to prevent disease progression. 

This discovery, at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, was a surprise. Drs. Jayakrishna Ambati and Nagaraj Kerur had determined that cGAS plays an important role in the body's immune response to infections detecting foreign DNA, but its role in dry AMD was unexpected.