ScienceDaily (Apr. 10, 2008) — The ocular lens belongs to the optical apparatus and focuses incidental beams of light onto the retina. Now, a research team led by Professor Dr. Jochen Graw of the Institute of Developmental Genetics, of the Helmholtz Zentrum München, has been able to decipher a genetic defect responsible for small eyes and an incomplete, clouded lens in the so-called Aey12 mouse mutants. These results lead to conclusions concerning cataracts in humans, because, in this case too, the lens loses its transparency.