In brief, the study protocol involves the enrollment of patients >18 years of age who have DME involving or threatening the center of the macula and who have not had prior focal/grid laser photocoagulation for DME. These are patients for whom the standard of care would be to treat with laser photocoagulation. Eligible eyes will be randomly assigned to receive either the modified-ETDRS technique or the mild macular grid (MMG) technique. Outcome assessments will include Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), fundus photography, fluorescein angiography and standardized best-corrected visual acuity.