Eyes Are More than a Window to the Soul

January 2025

Robert Roden, a recent BYU PhD grad and now a professor at Rocky Mountain University, says his BYU experience was fulfilling both scientifically and spiritually. He loves the bold intersection of science and religion that is encouraged at BYU.

“Biochemistry is a witness of our Creator,” he says. “Our very molecules declare that the Lord governs all life. Some people say that science and religion are contradictory, but I cannot find anything further from the truth. The fingerprint of God is everywhere in science.”

Research findings about proteins in tears, derived from experiments conducted by Roden and BYU faculty mentor Kenneth Christensen, were recently published in Clinical Proteomics.

“How many people could be helped if doctors could catch diseases before symptoms develop?” Roden says. “With this new lens method, we could potentially screen for a range of health issues by analyzing tears.”

The presence of certain proteins in biofluids including tears can indicate health issues like glaucoma and macular degeneration, but it can also identify systemic diseases such as breast cancer or Alzheimer’s.

But tears are notoriously difficult to collect. Instead of doing invasive eye pokes, Roden decided to try using something more comfortable: a soft contact lens designed to naturally soak up proteins from the eye. Testing showed that lenses made from the hydrogel material Etafilcon-A collected the highest protein levels without causing irritation.

The work that Roden and Christensen (a professor of biochemistry) started is continuing. A team of BYU and Rocky Mountain University researchers is conducting additional clinical trials using the contacts to link specific tear proteins to more diseases.

“This project is very powerful in its scope,” Roden says. “Any disease that your blood touches has the potential to show up in your tears. Hopefully this sampling can turn into a routine screening.”