ANIMAL-MODELS OF MYOPIA - A REVIEW

The discovery that myopia can be induced in animals has resulted in re newed interest in the condition and it is hoped that information gaine d about the production, manipulation and prevention of myopia in anima ls might provide information about naturally occurring myopia in human s. Early experimental work was carried out using monkeys as subjects, but the high cost involved, and the difficulty of obtaining monkeys in adequate numbers for good experimental design and control, made resea rchers look for more suitable experimental animals. Myopia has also be en induced in other animals species such as the domestic cat, the tree shrew, the marmoset, the guinea pig and, most successfully, the domes tic chicken. The parallels between experimentally induced myopia, whic h can only be induced in infant animals, and human myopia which typica lly develops well after infancy, have still to be established.