Myopia rose faster in two generations than any inherited trait can rise. The genetics is real and it is not what changed.
Why this topic Rates in East Asian cities are among the highest ever recorded, and time spent outdoors — not screen time itself — is the intervention with the evidence behind it.
Solid lines are connections this site curates. Dashed lines mean the two ends share a research paper — worth knowing, and not a claim that one explains the other.
Counted in Europe PMC, where the title or abstract names both this topic and that rsID. The number is papers, not evidence of a cause.
GJD2
Refractive error
15 papers →SNTB1
Myopia (severe)
8 papers →PDGFRA
Corneal curvature
5 papers →MIPEP
Myopia (pathological)
4 papers →CF1
Age-related macular degeneration (choroidal neovascularisation)
3 papers →LIPC
HDL cholesterol
3 papers →ARHGAP18
Axial length
3 papers →TGFB1
Colorectal cancer
3 papers →PRSS56
Refractive error
2 papers →FRAP1
Corneal curvature
2 papers →MTHFR
Folate metabolism (MTHFR C677T)
2 papers →CETP
HDL cholesterol
2 papers →CFB
Age-related macular degeneration
2 papers →TCF4
Sclerosing cholangitis and ulcerative colitis (combined)
1 paper →MTHFR
Folate metabolism (MTHFR A1298C)
1 paper →ABCA1
HDL cholesterol
1 paper →ATOH7
Optic disc parameters
1 paper →CTC1
Telomere length
1 paper →ZNF676
Telomere length
1 paper →FTO
Type 2 diabetes
1 paper →SLC16A8
Age-related macular degeneration
1 paper →CRP
C-reactive protein
1 paper →RASGRF1
Refractive error
1 paper →FILIP1L
Axial length
1 paper →FTO
Menarche (age at onset)
1 paper →Europe PMC, title and abstract only, searched for “myopia”, “refractive error”, “visual acuity” alongside each published rsID. Full text was not counted: it returns every paper with an rsID buried in a supplementary table. Recounted monthly.