A Cure for The Colorblindness Blues

www.sciencefriday.com
As the most common genetic disorder worldwide, colorblindness affects roughly 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women, the overwhelming majority of whom have trouble perceiving red and green. While this may be a minor inconvenience to some, being severely colorblind can taint seemingly ordinary experiences such as a enjoying a vivid sunset or picking out fresh produce. Colorblindness can even prevent some people from pursuing jobs where color vision is critical. With these grievances in mind, visionary researchers Maureen and Jay Neitz have spent over a decade researching and developing a cure. Using a virus-based gene therapy and a group of highly trained monkeys, the Neitzes may have finally created a cure for the colorblindness blues.

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hello jay…, its on 18 october 2022 now. I am still waiting for your gene therapy for red green color blindness

[@immigrantworld4899]

Heyyyyy it’s me in march 2021 now. The therapy is still blank!

[@m.p.472]

5:45 - dark red shirt with purple t-shirt simply looks great!

[@Putawhaleonit]

Any status updates on FDA approval? Colorblind designer here - this would literally change my life.

[@immigrantworld4899]

I dont know. But I think he needs biopharma companies to develope his treatment. Adevrum Biotechnology deleted its pipeline about red green color blindness therapy candidates in 2015, there are AVA-322 and AVA-323. Now the company is focusing on AMD treatment

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hello

[@immigrantworld4899]

Do you believe dr jay neitz and james kuchenbecker?

[@mcruff3]

Best bet to ever get this treatment, is to find a bio hacker that can engineer a CRISPR treatment. Though I definitely would never recommend it. FDA exists for a reason.

[@amritparida1925]

I need the cure for colour blindness urgently! It's very important!

[@immigrantworld4899]

Never

[@immigrantworld4899]

I watch this video everyday mate..

[@SenorRu]

Pretty excited for this.

[@immigrantworld4899]

I am still waiting for this jay

[@immigrantworld4899]

Please Dr Neitz, make the human trials for these therapies. I will raise fund for your researches

[@chk1414]

I want this treatment so badly

[@Vagabundo96]

Amazing! I want this cure so bad...

[@immigrantworld4899]

Did you still hope it?

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hahaha

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hello

[@immigrantworld4899]

Check

[@briannayancey3444]

What's wrong w/ leaving the house like that? He looks fine to me.

[@inanutshell5204]

mines not genetic i got hit in the eye and my white turns to yellow or as very light blue and silver turns into a silver blue

[@immigrantworld4899]

When will gene therapy for red green color blindness be avaible in human? Please help me I am very stressful. Gene therapy for achromatopsia has been tested in human, why fore red green color blindness is no real progression?? I hope you dr nathan could help me and work with the neitzes to find the cure. And I hope you are not working to find the cure for blue cone monochromacy. Please only work to red green color blindness. Please dr, you dont fell how frustated I am for this disorder😥😭🙏

[@yubrajthakuri6877]

When will this cure approved sir???

[@immigrantworld4899]

I am color blindness, strong protan since birth. I’ve never experinced full colors since birth and waited the gene therapy since monkeys trial in 2009. I couldn’t cook well, see the sunset, trafic light, match the dress, get dream jobs, and etc. I am fully disable honestly althogh it is not threatining condition. But most scientists dont understand how broken I am. They would rather find the cure of AMD and RP than CVD. In Indonesia said “sampai kapan ini berakhir ya Yesus?” Or in english “till when it will end oh JESUS?” I want to be cured like You ever did for blind people in Yerikho.

[@Putra-dw9zs]

Dari Indo bang?

[@immigrantworld4899]

Still wathing this… Hope luke grooskin will interview Dr Jay Neitz next

[@immigrantworld4899]

Any status fda approval?

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hiiii, anybody knows when is it ready for human??

[@immigrantworld4899]

Heyy sci fi, you also commented in the news page!!!

[@immigrantworld4899]

Yes.,, and still

[@UHFStation1]

So is color blindness a damaged cone type or what exactly? Do altered genes initiate a regeneration of cell types?

[@albedoshader]

There are different types of color deficiency. The most common types stem from mutations of the l or m cones for long and mid-range wavelength cones (“red” and “green”). These types are called protanopia and deuteranopia. These mutations shift the peak wavelength of the sensitivity of these cones. The problem is that the l and m cones have already peak wavelengths that are fairly close to each other. The mutations shift the sensitivity peaks closer together. And that leads to a worse ability to discrimitate between shades of red and green, and also changes the lightness perception of these colors. Severe cases of these types of color deficiency shift the peak sensitivity of either the l or m cones so far that they are basically identical with the other cone type. And in that case there is no difference between the signals of the l and m cones, which basically switches off the ability of red-green discrimination. This is also the case if someone is completely lacking one of the cone types, like the male squirrel monkeys. There is no signal coming from either the l or m cones, which completely switches off the red-green discrimination. The gene therapy stimulates the retina to produce the lacking cone type. The underlying neural pathways are still intact, so full color vision can be restored. Imagine having a device with three types of light sensors and some wiring to use the signals from these sensors to produce a red-green, yellow-blue, and a lightness channel. Now, if one of the sensor types does not work properly or does not exist anymore, but the wiring is still intact, then either the red-green or the yellow-blue channel don’t produce any signal for color detection anymore. If you repair or plug in the missing sensor type again, the underlying circuitry can use the signal again to produce the previously missing color channel. This is basically what the gene therapy does. This is a rough outline of how the stage (opponent stage) after the cone signals produces the three opposite-color channels: L, M, S are the long, mid, and short wavelength range cone types. lightness = 0.6 * L + 0.4 * M yellow-blue = 0.24 * L + 0.105 * M + 0.7 * S red-green = 1.2 * L + 1.6 * M + 0.4 * S You can see that in both red-green and blue-yellow perception all three cone types are necessary for a full range of color perception. Yellow-blue color deficiency (tritanopia and tritanomaly) is very rare and as far as I know not a genetic disorder but rather an acquired deficiency. People affected by it can’t discriminate between shades of blue and yellow or their discrimiation is very poor in that color channel.

[@sgfreak96]

When will this get approved?

[@immigrantworld4899]

Ask Dr Neitz. Thousands of email arrive to him everyday and he wont reply anything

[@immigrantworld4899]

Yes

[@immigrantworld4899]

Still?

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hey SciFri! You commented on reddit

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hello

[@JimGiant]

When is this going to be available to give normal people people IR and UV vision?

[@scifri]

+Jim Giant HA! We asked the Neitzes that questions and they denied that DARPA was working on anything... at the moment.

[@subh1]

+Jim Giant You'll need to know the genes that would create the protein in the cells capable of responding to IR or UV. But there doesn't exist any such genes in any human to reference to. In general back-engineering genes for an arbitrary desired property is almost impossible. But I believe some birds do have UV vision and wild cats do have IR vision. So perhaps we can borrow the genes from them. But then again, the question is whether human cone cells will have the machinery to make proper use of those genes.

[@JimGiant]

subh1 There are plenty of animals which can see IR and UV which we can use the genes from, all that happens is the protein releases an electrical impulse which is then sent through the cone sell and passed to the optic nerve, there's no complex pathway which would cause a compatibility issue as far as I'm aware The brain will handle whatever sensory data you throw at it as evidenced by the people with tetrachromacy.

[@pauldhoff]

+Jim Giant The lens of the human eye filters UV. Paul

[@JimGiant]

pauldhoff Why do we have UV sunglasses then?

[@sumanpanja6379]

When their will be the treatment on humans.

[@immigrantworld4899]

I am still waiting bruh…

[@immigrantworld4899]

Still a cure?

[@immigrantworld4899]

Not ready till now?

[@911Kongen]

What is wrong with leaving your house like that?

[@hav0x963]

911Kongen yea. xD

[@immigrantworld4899]

Wrong

[@djame2517]

At 1:20 they both looked the exact same to me

[@echotorres4062]

I still have hope for a cure. I want my dream job but only with this cure that is possible. hopefully in 2 or 3 years. hopefully...

[@eagleelectromusic8481]

Brianna Yancey EnChroma Glasses do not cure color vision. They only help to distinguish the colors.

[@immigrantworld4899]

Did you still hope it? Ask Dr Neitz. Ask to him to not focus on myopia cures, but focus on red green color blindness gene therapies

[@immigrantworld4899]

Do you still hope?

[@immigrantworld4899]

Still?

[@immigrantworld4899]

Still hope??

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hello scifry

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hello scifri editorr

[@MrLockie7]

What's the issue with how that chaps dressed?

[@hav0x963]

Matt Lockie Idk lol.

[@immigrantworld4899]

Stil hope

[@Calico_Crow]

Where can I go to volunteer for human testing of this?! Screw the FDA, idgaf.

[@immigrantworld4899]

When will it be ready for human trials?

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hello

[@immigrantworld4899]

Fda is suck

[@blue_droid]

Does he say at the end that it would be "like an everyday shot"? Does that mean that you would need to have a shot in the eye everyday in order to make the effects last? I would really appreciate if someone could clarify it for me, I am really interested but English is not my birth language and I might be getting it wrong, am I?

[@SuperYtc1]

No. By “everyday shot” what they mean is that it’s like an “easy” or “normal” procedure. Not that you’d need to do it every day.

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hello

[@immigrantworld4899]

Come on dr neitz!!

[@anirudhsrivastava4937]

Hey listen bro I think you are really worried about your problem so let me tell you one thing , Go on Google and search about JAMA ophthalmology , It was journal published on May 03 , 2020 that Gene therapy has successfully passed the Initial human trial of 1st stage they are safe now they will do larger human trials . Let give you the link to that

[@anirudhsrivastava4937]

newatlas.com/medical/gene-therapy-color-blindness-achromatopsia-first-phase-human-trial/

[@anirudhsrivastava4937]

Might be helpful for you best of luck and best of luck to the doctors working hope they get success in all human trials and Soon They Introduce this therapy into the market and everyone will be cured from all sorts of colorblindness this year 2021 only , hope this works . 🙏

[@immigrantworld4899]

@@anirudhsrivastava4937 i read it a year ago. But it’s still far away to get FDA clearance to be sold in market. And this therapy is for achromatopsia, not for red green color blindness. It carries different gene to fix. I thank to you for help me but I still waiting for Dr who are able to conduct gene therapy for red green color blindness, L-opsin and M-opsin defects. Do you know the story of AVA-322 and AVA-323? Where are them?

[@immigrantworld4899]

I emailed prof bern who involved in achromatopsia treatment trial in university hospital of Tubingen and he said like this “Dear Swandi Wijaya, In our institute we are developing gene therapy for a conditon called 'complete colorblindness' which is somewhat misleading since patients with this condition are severly visually impaired with respect to acuity (10% of normal) and photophobia. But this therapy cannot be applied to the common forms of red-green colorblindess. to the best of my knowledge there is currently no gene therapy available for protan color blindness and this is really a pity given the positive results in monkeys. Kind regards Bernd Wissinger” And I asked again why they more preferred to find the cure of achromats than red green cvd and he replied “Dear Swandi Wijaya it's not that trivial as it may sound. And from my experience with achromatopsia it requires many years and many millions of dollars to get there. It’s rather a project for a company then for an academic center. Bernd Wissinger”

[@aditya.nair._]

When human trials?🙂💧

[@aditya.nair._]

Can you guys let us know why it's not approved yet?

[@immigrantworld4899]

Do you still wait?

[@immigrantworld4899]

Indonesia

[@immigrantworld4899]

Where is your integrity Dr Jay Neitz? You said human trials for color blindness treatment would be avaible as soon as 2017. It has not come out yet!!

[@ganeshgaygol5607]

I am colorblind person sir i have a AAV please sir help me

[@ganeshgaygol5607]

Contact me sir

[@leoadian1229]

@@ganeshgaygol5607 dude its a 5 year old video

[@immigrantworld4899]

@@leoadian1229 so, I almost lose the hope for this treatment. It took so long time to make it undergo in human. Look the other ocular eye disease such as age macular degenaration, galucoma, achromatopsia, etc. Those ocular diseases nearly can be treated. Now the researchers are focusing the study to get the FDA Approval for the gene therapies for those diseases

[@immigrantworld4899]

Lets do human trials please. It’s been over 2 decade

[@ChefRafi]

Oh my! I wonder how color blind people paint fall colors.

[@reececrump8483]

...they don't

[@immigrantworld4899]

Worse

[@immigrantworld4899]

Hahahahahaha i am very depressd and stresfull for being color blind. It ruined my dream jobs 😢😭😭😭

[@immigrantworld4899]

Human trials please🙏😭

[@Rohit-ih7cp]

@immigrantworld Gene therapy is still at experimental stage and even human trials are also not initiated as FDA didn't gave permission.. It will take decades for gene therapy to come out as cure.. Plus it will cost millions of dollars to take treatment.. So their is no point waiting for it. It is better to move ahead with this disability.. and you HAVE TO change your path in case colourblindness comes across..

[@immigrantworld4899]

@@Rohit-ih7cp it’s over 2 decades dude. They ever asked for human trials in 2009 ago but FDA denied it. Do you know that? And sure I wont change my life path. My color blindness should be cured no matter what happens next. I never live confidently with this bad dissability. When someone asks me what color it is, I am not sure to answer. And should I carry this burden for my lifetime?

[@Rohit-ih7cp]

@@immigrantworld4899 Every person born with some kind of advantages and disadvantages with his body, even some don't have their arm some don't have legs or some people have to deal with severe kind of diseases. We got many buckets full of resources and one bucket with half, it is individuals choice where to concentrate. If you are thinking for same issue day and night the issue will become bigger and bigger and you will end up life like a scary dream. There are more colours in universe than even normal humans can see.

[@immigrantworld4899]

@@Rohit-ih7cp no, sometime you should not quit with your weakness. Color blindness is curable because it is on celluler level. I cant live with color blindness. Adverum biotechnology was granted by FDA to develop gene therapy for blue cone monochromacy on january, 4, 2022. You can read it from its website. Blue cone monochromacy lose L or both M opsin gene that similiar quite same with protan and deutran. If you are not willing to be cured it’s ok but I have to be cured whenever it happens

[@immigrantworld4899]

@@Rohit-ih7cp are you rohit varma?

[@pauldhoff]

Check into EnChroma colorblind glasses. Paul

[@immigrantworld4899]

Enchroma doesnt fix your red green color blindness. It only blocks some spectrums of color and you can see dominant color but at the same time you will not see some spectrums of color too. Only gene therapies are the hope. May it be tried in human in the next year

[@immigrantworld4899]

Enchroma fucks

[@immigrantworld4899]

Enchroma doest fix your problem. Nobody doctor allows wearing the glasses when you get the exam

[@alexthelegendtennis6796]

First dislike

[@immigrantworld4899]

me second