Scientists discover an entirely new human body part… in the eye
Meet Dua's layer. It's just 15 microns thick

Harminder Dua, a professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Nottingham, has discovered a tiny, previously unknown body part hidden in the human eye. He named it after himself — Dua's layer — and detailed the revelation in the journal Ophthalmology.
Sitting at the back of the cornea — the transparent front part of the eye that helps refract light — Dua's layer is "skinny but tough," and just 15 microns thick, says LiveScience. (25,000 microns is approximately an inch.) Researchers found Dua's layer by using jets of air bubbles to gently separate the corneal layers in donated eyes, scanning each layer individually under an electron microscope.
As for what the new body part actually does, Dua believes it helps keep fluid from building up in the cornea. A tear in the layer can lead to a condition called corneal hydrops, a rare but nasty complication resulting from Keratoconus, which causes the cornea to take on a cone shape.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"This is a major discovery that will mean that ophthalmology textbooks will literally need to be re-written," says Dua. "From a clinical perspective, there are many diseases that affect the back of the cornea which clinicians across the world are already beginning to relate to the presence, absence or tear in this layer."
Popular Science notes that knowledge of the new layer "could dramatically improve outcomes for patients undergoing corneal grafts and transplants." Because when you're gently knifing into the eyeball with a scalpel, it's probably a good idea to know exactly what you're cutting into.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What difference will the 'historic' UK-Germany treaty make?
Today's Big Question Europe's two biggest economies sign first treaty since WWII, underscoring 'triangle alliance' with France amid growing Russian threat and US distance
-
Quiz of The Week: 12 – 19 July
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
Do we need more right-wing scientists?
Talking Point Academics have a 'responsibility' to demonstrate why research matters to people who are not politically left-leaning, says Wellcome boss