Non-primate mammals do not see colors as well as humans, due to having photoreceptors that only detect short (blue) and medium (green) wavelengths of the visible spectrum of light. Genetically engineered mice have been given the “gift” of human vision and can also see longer (red) wavelengths in order to study how colored vision evolved in primates. The question remains to determine why such evolution of vision didn’t occur in other mammalian species.

Aside from primates, most mammals are largely colorblind. Now researchers have found that transgenic mice can acquire the ability to detect new color differences if given a gene for making an additional light-sensing eye protein. The findings have implications for understanding how color vision evolved.

Source: Science