Similar to the experiment conducted on squirrel monkeys, we plan to expand on the previous method in the next 20 years and possibly derive a cure to not only red-green color blindness in humans, but also to yellow-blue color blindness and inherited achromatopsia. We envisioned that a combination of gene therapy and stem cell research may be the ideal solution to the two aforementioned ailments.
For curing yellow-blue color blindness, an adeno-associated virus (AAV), most recently used for carrying genes into areas of the eye, will be loaded with the genes, OPN1LW, OPN1MW and OPN1SW. The resulting vector would be the messenger which carries our modified genes into the retinal pigment epithelium while causing only a mild immune response. The direct injection of aqueous virus which is naturally harmless to humans will allow the viruses to infect photoreceptive cone cells in the retina since viruses are programmed to latch onto its host’s cells and injecting its own genes to be duplicated by the cells. With the additional foreign genes in the existing cone cells, the complete variety of related proteins, L-opsin, M-opsin and S-opsin, the three main proteins that allow for human color vision, will be incorporated into the normal protein production of cone cells. The increased amounts of each protein should allow for the full detection of color along the visible light spectrum.
In regards to the issue patients with hereditary achromatopsia face, a similar solution, compared to the cure for other types of color blindness, can be administered to treat this rare disease. With the current progress of stem cell research, stem cells can be modified into a semi-developed state with consideration to the OPN1LW, OPN1MW and OPN1SW genes introduced to them at an early stage. The combination of stem cells and opsin genes will be injected into the retinas of the patients in a similar fashion as to the surgery performed on color blind patients.
