Thursday - September 17, 2009

Curing Color Blindness

Scientists appear to have cured red-green color blindness in squirrel monkeys by injecting a virus into their eyes.  The otherwise benign virus creates L-opsin which stimulates the retinas to manufactures the cones that perceive red and green.  

It's absolutely fascinating.  It appears that adult monkeys are not prevented from properly using these new cones because their brain pathways are already wired.  Instead, the adult monkeys now appear to see the new colors properly.  

This is fascinating.  As one who suffers from a fairly mild form of red-green color deficiency, I'd love to know what I'm missing, and since I appear to have some, but not many, of the correct cones in my retina, my brain should surely be able to use them.

There are even more fascinating uses of this gene therapy, many are beyond my imagination.  But what comes immediately to mind are that some women have the ability to perceive more than the normal colors.  Why shouldn't everyone want such an ability?  

The scientists in the article even hypothesize that this type of therapy might enhance night vision as well.  I'm sure the military would love that.

This opens the door to other fascinating possibilities beyond vision.  We already know that frogs can be made transparent.  Maybe there will be other gene therapies that can be exploited to cure any number of diseases or increase muscles for the sick or even the healthy.  

Science fiction often shows the future dominated by beings so intelligent that they no longer need or have robust physiques.  I think gene therapy will make the opposite the case.  In the future we will all be tall and beautiful, not to mention intelligent, whether we are born that way or not.  We needn't wait for evolution to do this, we can take care of it ourselves.  I find this hopeful and wish the best to my great grandchildren.

Added:  I just learned that this philosophy is known as "transhumanism" or H+.  I'm surprised I'd never much noticed the term before.  

Go Back to the Start, Do Not Collect $200   Send me your two cents
|