PAX6 is a master transcription factor critical for development of the eye, central nervous system, and pancreas 1. In the cornea, PAX6 works with p63 to specify limbal stem/progenitor cells and cooperates with WNT7A to direct their differentiation into corneal epithelial cells 2. Downstream of PAX6, the transcription factor controls expression of WNK2, which maintains corneal epithelial cell-specific markers and homeostasis 3. PAX6 also regulates genes involved in retinoic acid signaling, including FABP5 and DSG1, which are essential for proper limbal epithelial differentiation 4. Beyond the eye, PAX6 acts as an inhibitory transcription factor of IDH3β in the brain; dysregulation of this axis promotes Alzheimer's-like pathology through impaired energy metabolism and tau hyperphosphorylation 5. Loss-of-function mutations in PAX6 cause aniridia and related ocular diseases including anterior segment dysgenesis, keratitis, and foveal hypoplasia 6. PAX6 haploinsufficiency leads to corneal surface disease through failure to maintain proper epithelial differentiation, a major cause of blindness worldwide 2. Notably, PAX6 transduction can reprogram skin epithelial cells to corneal fate, suggesting therapeutic potential for corneal surface disorders 2.