Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert9
This was a very interesting program. Particularly impressed by the experiment with the monkey, genetically altering some of its colour-receptors in the eye to give it full tri-colour vision. If only it were possible to genetically change human colour sensitivity such that we had coloured night vision. It would give a new dimension to observational astronomy - colour!
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There is one possibility. Colour genetic defects in women may mean they can be so-called
tetrachromatic or have
tetrachromatic vision . These are likely women who have had sons who are “dichromats”. (Jordan, G, Mollon, J.D. “
A study of women heterozygous for colour deficiencies.”,
Vision Research,
33, 1495-1508 (1993)) It involves switching on
both XX-chromosomes. Here, they would mismatch the common colours we all see, but they have slightly better capabilities in separating the wide range of red to orange colours. However, such women are presently literally one-in-a-million.
If you could change this permanently it would cause a serious ethical problem, because all women could have the "improvement", but unfortunately no any men!!
Sadly changing us humans altogether would be interesting, though we might be considered a different species with such modifications. I.e.
Homo Novas. Natural selection seems to have no real need for us to see colours at night, because we are meant to sleep at night and we have our circadian rhythms fixed to the rise of the sun each day. Break that and it might make us all psychological a little out of whack!
Nice idea though!
Look forward to the other two parts of the series!