Researchers have demonstrated that the APOE4 gene variant, which increases risk for Alzheimer’s but decreases risk of glaucoma, blocks a disease cascade that leads to the destruction of retinal ganglion cells in glaucoma. Additionally, they showed in mouse models that the death of retinal ganglion cells can be prevented by using medications to inhibit a molecule called Galectin-3, which is regulated by the APOE gene. These findings taken together emphasize the critical role of APOE in glaucoma and suggest that Galectin-3 inhibitors hold promise as a glaucoma treatment.