Navigation Links
Making mice with enhanced color vision

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and their colleagues have found that mice simply expressing a human light receptor in addition to their own can acquire new color vision, a sign that the brain can adapt far more rapidly to new sensory information than anticipated.

This work, appearing March 23 in Science, also suggests that when the first ancestral primate inherited a new type of photoreceptor more than 40 million years ago, it probably experienced immediate color enhancement, which may have allowed this trait to spread quickly.

"If you gave mice a new sensory input at the front end, could their brains learn to make use of the extra data at the back end?" asks Jeremy Nathans M.D., Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and genetics, neuroscience, and ophthalmology at Hopkins. "The answer is, remarkably, yes. They did not require additional generations to evolve new sight."

Retinas of primates such as humans and monkeys are unique among mammals in that they have three visual receptors that absorb short (blue), medium (green) and long (red) wavelengths of light. Mice, like other mammals, only have two; one for short and one for medium wavelengths.

In the study, the researchers designed a "knock-in" mouse that has one copy of its medium wavelength receptor replaced with the human long wavelength receptor, so both were expressed in the retina. The human receptors were biologically functional in the mice, but the real question was whether the mice could use the new visual information.

To address this question, the researchers used a classic preference test; mice set before three light panels were trained to touch the one panel that appeared to differ from the other two. A correct answer was rewarded with a drop of soy milk.

To circumvent thorny issues related to the subjective nature of color perception -- everyone who has had a discussion as to whether the "green" they see is the same as t
'"/>

Source:Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions


Page: 1 2 3

Related biology news :

1. Making Sure Sacred Sheep Dont Become Extinct
2. Muscle repair: Making a good system better, faster; implications for aging, disease
3. Making plant cells work like miniature factories
4. Making medicine smarter
5. Making a face: A new and earlier marker of neural crest development
6. Mouse with designer liver has enhanced glucose tolerance, insulin response
7. Study finds that nutritionally enhanced rice reduces iron deficiency
8. Researchers report technique for freezing and preserving genetically enhanced pig embryos
9. Fish growth changes enhanced by climate change
10. Scientists genetically engineer tomatoes with enhanced folate content
11. ASU researchers finds novel chemistry at work to provide parrots vibrant red colors
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
TAG: Making mice with enhanced color vision

(Date:5/17/2013)... Sustainable Global Logistics Operations) is aiming to cut CO2 ... intermodal loading systems and the boosting of intelligent systems ... with experience in the logistics sector and in supply ... a duration of three and a half years. , ... components and ontologies shared by the users, objects and ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... Bethesda, MD The Federation of American Societies for ... of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding trends highlighting ... to support critical research. The FASEB analysis follows a ... Francis Collins, MD, PhD, who testified that the $1.6 ... to sequestration is "having a substantial impact on the ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... 2013) Illustrating a commitment to the support ... Association (AGA) Research Foundation has announced the inaugural ... Award recipients. Supported by the National Institute of ... new award helps underrepresented minority students to further ... research. , "By establishing this new award, AGA ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):New logistics services that will cut energy consumption and CO2 emissions 2Underrepresented minority students receive fellowships in digestive disease and nutrition research 2
... New Orleans, LA Research conducted by Dr. Jayne S. ... Center New Orleans, and colleagues has found that a defect ... cornea also contributes to the progression of invasive bladder cancer. ... the peer-reviewed journal, DNA and Cell Biology . It ...
... November issue of The American Naturalist : ... are sexy How global warming could cause animals to shrink How ... egg could lead to permanent problems For the complete ... . The singer not the song: Why some birds ...
... - An international team of scientists, including biologists from the ... for the first time the mechanism responsible for cell polyploidy, ... sets of chromosomes. When it comes to human chromosomes ... pairs. Bundled within the nucleus of our cells are 46 ...
Cached Biology News:Mutation in gene associated with rare eye disease also contributes to bladder cancer growth 2Why some birds think simple songs are sexy 2Why some birds think simple songs are sexy 3Why some birds think simple songs are sexy 4Growing without cell division 2
(Date:5/17/2013)... 2013 Rust removal is one of home ... items could be damaged. To help rust contractors make it ... no-scrubbing rust remover it called Rusterizer. It announced ... 10% discount. , My Cleaning Products explained that rust could ... by staining them. The first one, it said, happens ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... May 16, 2013 ISPE ... A. Myers, CAE, to the newly created position ... new role, Myers will be responsible for stimulating ... production strategies, advancing the Society’s Member-led and staff-driven ... continuing to refine organizational, membership and product marketing. ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... (PRWEB) May 16, 2013 Cambridge Healthtech ... from August 19-23, 2013 at the Renaissance Waterfront Hotel ... Summit provide a close-up look at the current strategies ... ensuring bottom-line quality. Leaders in the field will ... to produce biopharmaceuticals with greater specificity and efficiency. , ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... -- Scientists at the Center for Learning and Memory, ... California -based biopharmaceutical company Magceutics, Inc. ... reversing memory decline in mice with Alzheimer,s Disease. By ... in advanced stage AD mice. The study is the ... for advanced stage AD mice, and is also the ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Organic-Based Rust Remover Cuts Down Price by 10%, My Cleaning Products Details Mechanics How to Get the Discount 2ISPE Names Barbara A. Myers, CAE, as Vice President of Professional Development 2The 2013 Bioprocessing Summit to Bring Together International Leaders to Discuss Today's Bioprocess Issues From Cell Line Selection to Manufacturing in Boston, MA 2Elevation of Brain Magnesium Reverses Memory Deficits in Alzheimer Mice 2Elevation of Brain Magnesium Reverses Memory Deficits in Alzheimer Mice 3
... columns back I mentioned my first law of softwareany mildly ... it is an operating system. Youve seen it. The e-mail ... then helper applications in version three and so on. The ... the poster child for this kind of behavior is the ...
... season, and you've been poked and prodded by television ads, ... Kerry drank a beer at your neighborhood bar and George ... Cheney was spotted more in Wisconsin in 2004 than he ... John Edwards has been in the state so often he's ...
... Norlight Telecommunications , a Brookfield, Wisconsin, telecommunications ... service for small and medium-sized businesses in Wisconsin and ... offer the service to businesses in Minnesota, Michigan, and ... , , IPLive will integrate voice, data and ...
Cached Biology Technology:The first law of software 2The first law of software 3Twenty ways you can tell this campaign has finally pushed you over the edge 2
Dopamine D2 and D3 receptor, human and possibly mouse. AB1502 detects 40 ng of dopamine receptor peptide by ELISA. AB1502 is not neutralizing....
Rabbit polyclonal to SpUlp2 ( Abpromise for all tested applications). Antigen: Synthetic peptide: SNNERQSLSSGSND, corresponding to amino acids 622-635 of Schizosaccharomyces pombe SpUlp2...
STX18 Immunogen: STX18 (NP_058626, 101 a.a. ~ 200 a.a) partial recombinant protein with GST tag. Storage: -20 C, Avoid Freeze/Thaw Cycles *Available for distribution in the US only...
Request Info...
Biology Products: