{
  "abstract": "Against the backdrop of the ongoing global ‘myopia boom’ that is greatest in Asia,1 Chen et al evaluated intergenerational differences in the distribution of refractive error (RE) in parents and their near-adult children in Guangdong, China.2 They identify a myopic shift in the RE distribution of young adults compared with their parents and confirm that it primarily relates to differences in axial length rather than any other reported biometric variable. They conclude that environmental factors have overwhelmed genetic influences on RE in this population. Intergenerational differences in place of residence and self-reported outdoor time during childhood, and highest educational level obtained between young adults and their parents confirm that differences in these myopigenic environmental stimuli associate with this RE shift. Limited correlation between the parents’ position on their RE distribution curve compared with that of their offspring is presented as further evidence that environmental influences have superseded genetic determinants of RE severity in their study cohort. Hence, the study provides additional evidence for the rapid evolution of the myopia boom and the likely role of environmental influences in it. But is this the whole story? The data also appear to support a potential role for genetic factors in this intergenerational RE shift and the myopia boom more broadly.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Gabriele d’Annunzio University of Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy",
        "Genetic Eye Disease Center, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Maria Ludovica Ruggeri"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Genetic Eye Disease Center, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Jefferson James Doyle"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Genetic influences on intergenerational refractive error shifts and extreme myopia",
  "uid": "132f5a78-b5ff-54bb-b25c-991f1c7bdd11"
}