Gyan Prakash (editor) - Advances in Vision Research Volume II: Genetic Eye Research in Asia and the Pacific: 1

Essentials in Ophthalmology aims to promote the rapid and efficient transfer of medical research into clinical practice. It is published in four volumes per year. Covering new developments and innovations in all fields of clinical ophthalmology, it provides the clinician with a review and summary of recent research and its implications for clinical practice. Each volume is focused on a clinically relevant topic and explains how research results impact diagnostics, treatment options and procedures as well as patient management.

The reader-friendly volumes are highly structured with core messages, summaries, tables, diagrams and illustrations and are written by internationally well-known experts in the field. A volume editor supervises the authors in his/her field of expertise in order to ensure that each volume provides cutting-edge information most relevant and useful for clinical ophthalmologists. Contributions to the series are peer reviewed by an editorial board.

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The Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) was established in 2014 to encourage and focus on eye disease research in Asia. With major population distribution and growth expected to occur in Asia, it is another way to approach public health aspects of ophthalmic diseases. As infectious, nutritional, and other preventable causes of vision loss and blindness are gradually overcome, less common entities such as genetic eye diseases become relevant.

With advancements in DNA sequencing, dissemination of technology, and ease of data sharing, genetic eye diseases lend themselves to exploration. AEGC focuses on studies of heretofore neglected Asian populations. The consortium under the able leadership of Gyan Prakash and Takeshi Iwata has brought together contributors from around the world.

The present monograph (second of the series) represents collective work of researchers from the Middle East, South East, and as far as New Zealand including the developed and the developing nations. The topics covered range from exfoliation syndrome, myopia, keratoconus, retinal dystrophies, and retinoblastoma providing unique Asian perspective and challenges.

It is my sincere hope that readers will find as much pleasure reading this volume as the editors and authors had in writing and editing it. If you find Genetic Eye Research in Asia and the Pacific informative, it is because (paraphrasing Isaac Newton) we have seen further, by standing on the shoulders of the giants.

Asia as the most populated region in the world is consequently the most affected with regard to eye diseases. For a long time, research has shown that genetic variations are widely involved in ocular diseases. The lack of information on the genetic basis of eye disease in the Asian population is pertinent, and the Asian Eye Genetics Consortium (AEGC) was established in 2014 to close this gap. Focusing and concentrating on research and patient care on eye disease in Asia, this institution has now grown with a worldwide membership and numerous research collaborations. In a first book published in this series Advances in Vision Research Volume 1, Genetic Research in Asia and the Pacific, the editors Dr. Gyan Prakash from NIH, NEI, USA and Dr. Takeshi Iwata from Japan tried to coordinate the findings from existing research studies on eye disease in Asians, translate them into patient care, and to identify areas for further research.

The doubling time for information in medicine is two and a half years. We benefit from the rapid evolution of basic science in all fields related to biology and medicine, and especially in relation to ophthalmology and vision. The radical advance in the understanding of inherited eye disease has placed a major responsibility on ophthalmologists in their future care of patients. Genetic research findings must be translated to impact and improve patient care at the community level.

Now, only one year after the first volume, the same editors completed this second volume of AEGC Advances in Vision Research. This book is again a milestone: An update on the AEGC and its scientific outreach is given in the first part. The challenges and opportunities for genetic research in Asia and Pacific are then described. Presenting a cross section of genetics research from different Asian countries the editors have collated a masterful and actual review of current knowledge and future demands. Key eye diseases are covered: retinal degenerations, retinoblastoma, glaucoma, myopia, and keratoconus. Assimilating and presenting this wealth of discovery the editors are to be congratulated for their focus on clinically relevant information. This makes the book a major resource for researchers and clinicians.

Light and vision have always promoted human development; loss of sight is among our most basic fears. Ninety percent of the global burden of eye disease is shouldered by developing countries, many of them in Asia. We believe there is a human right to sight and the editors must be congratulated to start and build the AEGC initiative and draw up this report to enhance eye care to people in this region. While some states of Asia have for a long time had established world-known research centers, the dispersion of genetic research into many more countries is an encouraging signal. The unconfined exchange of information between research institutions will benefit our patients in the long term. The first volume of this series was dedicated to the blind children of the world, their caregivers for the noble cause, and the vision researchers around the world who are finding the solutions to treat the blindness. By close cooperation of scientists and clinicians we will prevent common forms of blindness in the future and reduce the burden of blindness for the benefit of our children.