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Monkeys help humans to see in full colour

21 September 2009

Although this is interesting research, it's important to bear in mind that it was done in monkeys and won't necessarily apply to humans.

Dr Karen Woo, associate medical director for Bupa

It may be possible to correct colour blindness in humans by injecting a missing gene into the eye, according to new research carried out in male squirrel monkeys.

This treatment offers a potential cure for people who are born with colour blindness.

However, Bupa's associate medical director, Dr Karen Woo, stresses that this is very early research that has not yet been done in humans.

Scientists in the US injected the human gene responsible for detecting the colour red under the retina (the light sensitive tissue that lines the back of your eye) of monkeys with red-green colour blindness. Male monkeys were used in this study because colour blindness is much more common in males than females.

Before the procedure was carried out, the monkeys were trained to use a version of the Cambridge Colour Test adapted for animals. This test assesses colour vision by prompting the user to identify letters or numbers in a pattern of coloured dots.

About 20 weeks after receiving the gene injection, the monkeys, who had been colour blind from birth, were able to tell the difference between red and green. This has remained constant for more than two years, indicating that the missing gene is all that is needed for full colour vision. It had been thought that for this to happen, new connections would also need to be developed between nerves in the brain.

Dr Woo said: "Although this is interesting research, it's important to bear in mind that it was done in monkeys and won't necessarily apply to humans. However, given that colour blindness in these animals is caused in a very similar way to that in people, further research is definitely worthwhile, especially into the possible safety risks of giving injections into the eye."

Key facts
  • Colour blindness means you have difficulty seeing certain colours.
  • Colour blindness is caused by not having one or more of the cells needed to detect different colours. This usually occurs because you are missing the gene for it.
  • More men than women are colour blind. This is because the genes for colour blindness are carried on the X chromosome - men only have one X chromosome, whereas women have two. For a man to be colour blind, the gene only has to appear on one X chromosome, but in women it must be on both - making a woman's risk of being colour blind much lower.
  • Colour blindness can also occur later in life as a result of illness, such as glaucoma or diabetes, exposure to industrial chemicals, for example solvents, or, more rarely, certain medicines, including some for treating heart conditions.

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