[Development of the human eye].

The development of the human eye requires a coordinated interplay between cells from different origins. The optic cup which is neuroectodermal in origin and derives from the neural tube, gives rise to the neuronal retina, the retinal pigmented epithelium, the epithelial layers of ciliary body and iris, and the iris musculature. The lens which is displaced into the optic cup during development originates from the surface ectoderm. Cells of the neural crest provide the ocular mesenchyme while ocular blood vessels are of mesodermal origin. The basic morphogenetic processes of eye development are completed at the end of the second month of embryonic life. However, for correct functioning further maturation processes are required which are not completed before birth or several months after. Examples are aqueous humor circulation, maturation of cones in the foveola, myelination of optic nerve axons and completion of the retinal vasculature.