In contrast, cells which phagocytose drusen, the characteristic waste product produced by the RPE cell, also secrete increased amounts of IL-18 again through NLRP-mediated activation of the inflammasome, but under these circumstances IL-18 may protect against retinal angiogenic responses, the hallmark of wet AMD and the obverse of geographic atrophy (Doyle et al., 2012). This evidence concerns the gene IL18 and atrophic macular degeneration.