TY - JOUR T1 - Inherited cataracts: molecular genetics, clinical features, disease mechanisms and novel therapeutic approaches JF - British Journal of Ophthalmology JO - Br J Ophthalmol SP - 1331 LP - 1337 DO - 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2019-315282 VL - 104 IS - 10 AU - Vanita Berry AU - Michalis Georgiou AU - Kaoru Fujinami AU - Roy Quinlan AU - Anthony Moore AU - Michel Michaelides Y1 - 2020/10/01 UR - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/104/10/1331.abstract N2 - Cataract is the most common cause of blindness in the world; during infancy and early childhood, it frequently results in visual impairment. Congenital cataracts are phenotypically and genotypically heterogeneous and can occur in isolation or in association with other systemic disorders. Significant progress has been made in identifying the molecular genetic basis of cataract; 115 genes to date have been found to be associated with syndromic and non-syndromic cataract and 38 disease-causing genes have been identified to date to be associated with isolated cataract. In this review, we briefly discuss lens development and cataractogenesis, detail the variable cataract phenotypes and molecular mechanisms, including genotype–phenotype correlations, and explore future novel therapeutic avenues including cellular therapies and pharmacological treatments. ER -