Barry Winkler uses Ground Squirrels to Learn About the Eye

The retina consists of two types of photoreceptors: rods and cones. Professor Barry Winkler, of OU's Eye Research Institute, studies glucose metabolism in the retina. Many eyes consist primarily of rods, so learning about cones is difficult. However, the eyes of ground squirrels consist primarily of cones, so Winkler and his colleagues chose this animal for their study Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Biochemical Measurements of Glucose Utilization in the Cone-Dominant Ground Squirrel Retina recently published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (Volume 49, pages 4613-4619, 2008). Winkler's coauthors include Prof. Robert Craig Taylor of the Department of Chemistry, Brandon Twardy, a former OU undergraduate Biochemistry major, Diane Brault, a graduate student in the Chemistry masters program, and Catherine Starnes, a technician in Winkler's lab.