Color Blindness

Image via Color Blind Awareness

Color blindness is a sex-linked recessive defect which primarily affects males through alterations in the genes encoding color pigments. When a person is color blind they have a hard time seeing color or telling certain colors apart. Color blindness relates to mutations as it is the result of an altercation on the genes that code for the red and green color pigments. It also connects to evolution as these defects persisted throughout generations, suggesting that they might be beneficial, and they are continuing to evolve. For example, some people have extra copies of the green opsin gene (the gene that allows you to see green) and overtime this could lead to some people being able to see whole new spectrums of color. Color blindness may not seem like a big deal, save for the fact that your clothes might not match, but it actually stops people from pursuing certain jobs in the fields of aviation and fields where color-coding is heavily relied upon. Many new treatments are being developed to counteract the deficiency such as gene therapy, which was recently tested on squirrel monkeys who face the same problem and proved to be successful, but no permanent cure that is accessible by the general public yet exists. There are temporary fixes to the problem though, an example being colored contact lenses that enhance reds and greens, but in the process diminish yellows and blues so, in the end, the pros of the product are bound back by the cons. And while many people believe that researchers should be focusing on helping those with more severe deficiencies, there are hundreds of scientists dedicated to being able to better detect which type of color blindness someone has as well as improving their overall quality of life. My dad works in the field of ophthalmology, so my brother, sister, and I grew up hearing about eyes and patients that got their vision back from near blindness. Also, I've always been interested in color theory and perception, for example the question of 'is my red your red?' and the idea that different colors mean different things and some cultures can identify colors that we cannot. I believe that being able to see color is an amazing thing and the idea that we cannot see the whole spectrum of color  (UV rays and infrared rays) just like we cannot see the 4th dimension is super interesting. This is why I firmly believe that researchers should continue to work on finding permanent cures to all types of color blindness so that everyone has the chance to see the world in all the colors that we possibly can.