The back of your cornea is lined with a single layer of tiny tiles. These cells pump water out all day, so your eye's window stays clear.
Drag to turn it around. Use the buttons to zoom in and try things from the lessons.
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The cornea has a very thin inside lining, just one cell thick. It faces the clear fluid that fills the front of your eye.
The cells are flat and mostly six-sided. They fit together like the tiles of a honeycomb.
In grown-ups, these cells hardly ever divide. When one is lost, its neighbors stretch out to fill the space.
Water from inside the eye slowly seeps into the cornea. If too much builds up, the cornea swells and gets cloudy, like a foggy window.
These cells work like tiny pumps. They keep moving water back out, so the cornea stays thin and clear.
Press Pump out water on the 3D model to see the cells push water back out of the cornea.
You have about the same set of these cells for your whole life, so they need to last a very long time!