Red light green light, A cure for color blindness

[Chrobalta]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8255112.stm

Looks promising if you ask me... Obviously they are not where they can do it in Humans yet, but the studies on monkeys are encouraging.

[Tunizcha]

Colour blindness really sucks. It's like only having half a pie. You've tasted some of it, and you want the rest.

[KaIashnikov]

LSD

[Buffett and Colbert]

I think it looks promising too. Eye just hope critics don't lash out against it.

[Drachmar]

LSD

It's not that bad. I am considered color blind, yet I can still see the "eye" in the picture.

I think color blindness is not as easily classifiable as scientists believe. I can tell the difference between different colors, yet have a hard time distinguishing between different shades of color.

Not that bad for me actually. Just sometimes I get mixed up between grey & blue, certain shades of yellows and greens...things like that.

It's not like I'm living in a black & white world.

[Maerngau]

LSD

It's not that bad. I am considered color blind, yet I can still see the "eye" in the picture.

I think color blindness is not as easily classifiable as scientists believe. I can tell the difference between different colors, yet have a hard time distinguishing between different shades of color.

Not that bad for me actually. Just sometimes I get mixed up between grey & blue, certain shades of yellows and greens...things like that.

It's not like I'm living in a black & white world.

I'm pretty typical red/green color 'confused' myself.

1) How much would this cost?
2) If I don't like the change, can I hit a "return to default" button?
3) Is it too late to get a job as a photo recon interpreter for the Defense department?

[Chrobalta]

I think it looks promising too. Eye just hope critics don't lash out against it.

Fail Pun

Who could be against this though?

[Maerngau]

I think it looks promising too. Eye just hope critics don't lash out against it.

Fail Pun

Who could be against this though?

I *might* be depending on whether the world gets uglier or not !

Seriously, I've gotten used to my perceptions and radically changing them might be a bit disconcerting. OTOH my wardrobe would probably get more interesting. Currently it's limited to black, blue, green, and khaki.

[KaIashnikov]

According to my girl friend that turquoise not light blue.

Am I color blind? Or is she just a bitch... ...I mean love you honey

[Tekania]

I think it looks promising too. Eye just hope critics don't lash out against it.

Fail Pun

Who could be against this though?

I risk to say animal rights activists would. Or the people that insist, like some Christians sects;that is it meddling with God's will... nut-cases.. the nerve of some people!

[Peddieville]

Honestly, color-blindness seems kind of mild. I have a friend who was color-blind. Never knew until he told me. I mean, they have my sympathy, but wouldn't the money be better spent towards fight cancer?

[Fiduses and Diuses]

Genetic scientists have discovered a cure for color blindness, offering hope to millions of sufferers.

Scientists at the University of Washington, in Seattle, and the University of Florida restored normal vision to two color-blind monkeys. The technique could prove to be a safe and effective cure for color blindness and other visual disorders related to the cones in the retina.

“Although color blindness is only moderately life-altering, we have shown we can cure a cone disease in a primate and that it can be done very safely,” said Professor William Hauswirth, an ophthalmic molecular geneticist at the University of Florida. “That is extremely encouraging for the development of therapies for human cone diseases that really are blinding.”

Those suffering from red-green color blindness cannot distinguish between colors in the green-red-yellow part of the spectrum. This can make reading maps, using the internet and selecting a matching shirt and tie impossible. The disorder affects about 8 per cent of Caucasian males, but fewer than 0.5 per cent of females.

Normal color vision requires three types of cone in the retina, sensitive to light in the blue, green, and red parts of the spectrum. The squirrel monkeys in the study — Dalton and Sam — lacked a gene called L opsin that codes for the red-sensitive cone. The same gene defect causes most cases of red-green color blindness in humans. The scientists knew the monkeys were color blind because they were trained to perform a touchscreen test. When they identified some patterns of colored dots they were rewarded with grape juice but they could not distinguish between the grey, green and red dots.

In the study, published today in the journal Nature, scientists restored normal vision to the monkeys by injecting a virus modified to contain the L opsin gene into the retina. Over 24 weeks the light sensitivity of the cones infected with the virus shifted towards the red part of the spectrum. Then the monkeys easily distinguished the patterns of grey, green and red dots.

The success of the treatment in adult animals demonstrated that the brain is able to rewire itself to take advantage of new receptors even in adulthood. The virus used to deliver the L optin gene, called adeno-associated virus, is not known to cause disease in humans. Two years on from the study, the monkeys have shown no adverse effects from the treatment.

Scientists are now looking to obtain permission to begin trials in color-blind humans. “People who are color-blind feel that they are missing out,” Jay Neitz, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Washington, said. “If we could find a way to do this with complete safety in human eyes I think there would be a lot of people who would want it.”

So what does NSG think? Path to even better stuff, waste of money/time that would be better used in a more serious disorder? Greatest thing since sliced bread? Way to few monkeys to know if this is an actual cure?

[Taeshan]

This sounds good for people with problems such as that.

[Farnhamia]

I'm sure my universal rights to decide which wave lengths of light represent which colors are violated by this, I'm just not sure how yet. *nod*

No, it's cool.

[UNIverseVERSE]

I like it. I'd be dubious about actually having it done to me without some damn good evidence it's going to work and be totally safe (I like my sight), but it's nice to know work's being done on this.

I am red/green colourblind.

[Krytenia]

OK, so it's not a cure for cancer or HIV, but we'll take these victories where we can.

Maybe they can do something about astigmatism next?

[Kobrania]

I like it. I'd be dubious about actually having it done to me without some damn good evidence it's going to work and be totally safe (I like my sight), but it's nice to know work's being done on this.

I am red/green colourblind.

I can't differentiate between similar colours. I.e red/brown green/yellow etc.

[Taeshan]

I like it. I'd be dubious about actually having it done to me without some damn good evidence it's going to work and be totally safe (I like my sight), but it's nice to know work's being done on this.

I am red/green colourblind.

How is that even possible. Red and Green are not similar, and unless you are colorblind as a whole it would be physically impossible to eliminate just random colors.

[Fiduses and Diuses]

I like it. I'd be dubious about actually having it done to me without some damn good evidence it's going to work and be totally safe (I like my sight), but it's nice to know work's being done on this.

I am red/green colourblind.

How is that even possible. Red and Green are not similar, and unless you are colorblind as a whole it would be physically impossible to eliminate just random colors.

umm its in the op/article:

Those suffering from red-green color blindness cannot distinguish between colors in the green-red-yellow part of the spectrum. This can make reading maps, using the internet and selecting a matching shirt and tie impossible. The disorder affects about 8 per cent of Caucasian males, but fewer than 0.5 per cent of females.

[Taeshan]

I like it. I'd be dubious about actually having it done to me without some damn good evidence it's going to work and be totally safe (I like my sight), but it's nice to know work's being done on this.

I am red/green colourblind.

How is that even possible. Red and Green are not similar, and unless you are colorblind as a whole it would be physically impossible to eliminate just random colors.

umm its in the op/article:

Those suffering from red-green color blindness cannot distinguish between colors in the green-red-yellow part of the spectrum. This can make reading maps, using the internet and selecting a matching shirt and tie impossible. The disorder affects about 8 per cent of Caucasian males, but fewer than 0.5 per cent of females.

Ah crap i was mixed uptheir for a few minutes, missed something. Disregard my comments.

[Cannot think of a name]

I've adapted most of my life to the minor inconvenience, I don't know if it's worth the hassle. Still, kinda cool.

[UNIverseVERSE]

How is that even possible. Red and Green are not similar, and unless you are colorblind as a whole it would be physically impossible to eliminate just random colors.

Can you see the number in this? I can't.
Can you see the number in this? I can't.
What number do you read in this? I see 21.

As it happens, red and green are adjacent parts of the spectrum, and the problem with my eyes is in distinguishing between shades of them.

I've adapted most of my life to the minor inconvenience, I don't know if it's worth the hassle. Still, kinda cool.

My workaround is normally getting a friend to confirm colours for me. I'd find it really damn useful to be able to do so myself, especially when I'm doing tech work and stuff.

[Taeshan]

How is that even possible. Red and Green are not similar, and unless you are colorblind as a whole it would be physically impossible to eliminate just random colors.

Can you see the number in this? I can't.
Can you see the number in this? I can't.
What number do you read in this? I see 21.

As it happens, red and green are adjacent parts of the spectrum, and the problem with my eyes is in distinguishing between shades of them.

I've adapted most of my life to the minor inconvenience, I don't know if it's worth the hassle. Still, kinda cool.

My workaround is normally getting a friend to confirm colours for me. I'd find it really damn useful to be able to do so myself, especially when I'm doing tech work and stuff.

#3 is 74

[The_pantless_hero]

You know what a fun game to play with colorblind people is? UNO.

[Conserative Morality]

How is that even possible. Red and Green are not similar, and unless you are colorblind as a whole it would be physically impossible to eliminate just random colors.

Can you see the number in this? I can't.
Can you see the number in this? I can't.
What number do you read in this? I see 21.

I see something, but it's too blurred for me to make out what it is exactly in 1 and 2.

In three, I think it's 40-something.