Fig. 13. SEM micrographs of embryonic nuclear fibers from aged transparent 57-year-old lens (A) and from a 77-year-old nuclear cataract (B). Interlocking edge processes (curved arrows), furrowed membrane domains (arrowheads), and anteroposterior fiber compaction (open arrows), resulting in accordion-like folds along the length of fibers, are apparent in both specimens. However, ongoing studies suggest that the anteroposterior compaction is quantifiably greater in nuclear cataract embryonic fibers than in aged embryonic nuclear fibers. (A, Taylor VL, Al-Ghoul KJ, Lane CW et al: Morphology of the normal human lens. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 37:1396, 1996)