The heritable factors for myopia are mapped to six chromosomal loci (MYP1-MYP6) showing genetic heterogeneity for this condition. Out of the six loci mapped so far, no genes have been characterized till date, except TGF b inducible factor gene (TGF b I). In this study we propose to investigate the relative effects of near work on the progression of myopia by follow up study of the subjects between the age group of 10 to 17 years. Three hundred age-matched subjects (100 myopes with family history, 100 myopes without family history and 100 emmetropes) will be enrolled for the study. From these 3 groups, families with strong history of myopia in 3 generations will be chosen for genetic analyses, after taking a detailed pedigree.