Abstract: Approximately fifty percent of all congenital cataract cases may have a genetic cause. Inherited congenital cataracts have been associated with mutations in specific genes, at least 26 of which have been located and identified up to now, including those of crystallins, membrane transport and channel proteins, the cytoskeleton, and growth and transcription factors. The purpose of this article is to review the literature on the recent advances about the molecular genetic basis of congenital cataracts.  (Int Rev Ophthalmol, 2012, 36: 98-103)