Findings from a newly published paper explore how our pigmentation genes – those that help determine skin and eye colour – may also influence the risk of developing wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
The research, featuring contributions from University of Southampton vision scientists, found that variations in two pigmentation-related genes (MC1R and DCT) are linked to wet AMD risk, with differences noticed across population groups.
Importantly, the study also confirmed that smoking increases the risk of wet AMD across all groups, reinforcing the message that lifestyle choices still play a key role in protecting sight.
These findings could pave the way for more personalised approaches to AMD risk assessment and deepen our understanding of the biological pathways that protect the retina.
Read the full paper: Functional polymorphisms in pigmentation-related genes MC1R and DCT display population-specific association with wet age-related macular degeneration on PubMed.