A team of American scientists could be close to finding a cure for color blindness , according to a study published today in Nature . Through gene therapy , researchers at the University of Washington were able to restore vision of all colors in adult monkeys that were born without the ability to distinguish between red and green. Experts say that the same treatment could work in humans. In addition, this research could also have potential in the treatment of other types of visual disorders, including age-related macular degeneration .
Professor Jay Neitz and his team achieved their goal by introducing therapeutic genes into cells at the back of the eye of an adult male monkey. Those genes contained the DNA code necessary to distinguish colors. The therapy turned out to be a success, since after the intervention the treated monkeys were able to correctly point out the red shapes that appeared on green backgrounds.
Winfried Amoaku, an ophthalmology expert at the University of Nottingham, has assessed that this research could benefit approximately 7% of men and 1% of women born with vision problems.
