Noncoding genome in eye disease

In the current scientific era, where the next-generation sequencing is a commonplace, we are just now beginning to understand the important role of the noncoding genome in diseases of the human eye. Of the noncoding genes, microRNAs (miRNAs) and the less understood, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently become the focus of an intense research effort, and a growing body of evidence implicates these RNAs and their dysregulation in various disease processes. Here, we examine the connections between these noncoding elements and several eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa, and retinoblastoma.