The domestic chicken, Gallus gallus, serves as an excellent model for the study of a wide range of ocular diseases and conditions. The purpose of this manuscript is to outline some anatomic, physiologic, and genetic features of this organism as a robust animal model for vision research, particularly for modeling human retinal disease. Advantages include a sequenced genome, a large eye, relative ease of handling and maintenance, and ready availability. Relevant similarities and differences to humans are highlighted for ocular structures as well as for general physiologic processes. Current research applications for various ocular diseases and conditions, including ocular imaging with spectral domain optical coherence tomography, are discussed. Several genetic and non-genetic ocular disease models are outlined, including for pathologic myopia, keratoconus, glaucoma, retinal detachment, retinal degeneration, ocular albinism, and ocular tumors. Finally, the use of stem cell technology to study the repair of damaged tissues in the chick eye is discussed. Overall, the chick model provides opportunities for high-throughput translational studies to more effectively prevent or treat blinding ocular diseases.

国内鸡，鸡内金，是研究各种眼疾和疾病的极佳模型。本手稿的目的是概述该生物体的一些解剖学，生理学和遗传学特征，作为视觉研究（尤其是人类视网膜疾病建模）的强大动物模型。优势包括测序的基因组，大眼睛，相对容易处理和维护以及易于使用。突出了与人类有关的眼结构和一般生理过程的相似性和差异。讨论了各种眼科疾病和病症的当前研究应用，包括具有光谱域光学相干断层扫描技术的眼科成像。概述了几种遗传性和非遗传性眼疾病模型，包括病理性近视，圆锥角膜，青光眼，视网膜脱离，视网膜变性，眼白化病和眼肿瘤。最后，讨论了使用干细胞技术研究鸡眼受损组织的修复方法。总体而言，小鸡模型为高通量转化研究提供了机会，以更有效地预防或治疗致盲性眼部疾病。