I was in the operating room the other day and one of my residents asked, "What is better tolerated after cataract surgery: residual hyperopia or residual myopia?" I quickly answered: "residual myopia!

Myopia occurs when the eye grows too long, increasing the distance between lens and retina such that the image produced by the lens comes into focus at a point in front of, rather than on, the retina.

Myopia, or nearsightedness, develops through a molecular pathway distinct from the pathway that leads to hyperopia, or farsightedness. Resolving the molecular blur behind blurred vision, say ...