Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Retinal: The Biological Role And Significance, Frances Flowers

Academic Symposium of Undergraduate Scholarship

Retinal, one of several vitamin A compounds serves a vital role in human vision (Tver and Russell, 458). Discovered in 1913, Vitamin A was the first vitamin to be discovered. The Vitamin A group includes the carotenoids, retinol and retinal. Each of these forms plays a significant role in animal vision, and vision is what led to vitamin A’s discovery. During the early 1900s, many researchers were conducting studies on the eyes of animals. They found that if the animals were consuming diets deficient in what are recognized today as vitamin A-rich sources, the animals’ eyes became inflamed and eventually …