Her chief obstacle to more theatre work was her eyesight, she had macular degeneration, which made the stage increasingly difficult.

"On MRI images, this decline can be seen as fatty degeneration of the muscle, where streaks of fat replace muscle fibers."

They discovered that this system can undergo catastrophic swelling, which leads to the degeneration of brain tissue, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

This paradox, known as "neuronal degeneration," has intrigued scientists for decades.

Since RUNX1 is active in other diseases, the researchers also hope to apply their mRNA system and RUNX1-Trap therapy to treat other retinal conditions like wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.