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Science 23 March 2007:
Vol. 315. no. 5819, pp. 1723 - 1725
DOI: 10.1126/science.1138838
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Reports

Emergence of Novel Color Vision in Mice Engineered to Express a Human Cone Photopigment

Gerald H. Jacobs,1* Gary A. Williams,1 Hugh Cahill,2,3,4 Jeremy Nathans2,3,4,5

Changes in the genes encoding sensory receptor proteins are an essential step in the evolution of new sensory capacities. In primates, trichromatic color vision evolved after changes in X chromosome–linked photopigment genes. To model this process, we studied knock-in mice that expressed a human long-wavelength–sensitive (L) cone photopigment in the form of an X-linked polymorphism. Behavioral tests demonstrated that heterozygous females, whose retinas contained both native mouse pigments and human L pigment, showed enhanced long-wavelength sensitivity and acquired a new capacity for chromatic discrimination. An inherent plasticity in the mammalian visual system thus permits the emergence of a new dimension of sensory experience based solely on gene-driven changes in receptor organization.

1 Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
2 Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
3 Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
4 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
5 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jacobs{at}psych.ucsb.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Comment on "Emergence of Novel Color Vision in Mice Engineered to Express a Human Cone Photopigment".
W. Makous (2007)
Science 318, 196b
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Response to Comment on "Emergence of Novel Color Vision in Mice Engineered to Express a Human Cone Photopigment".
G. H. Jacobs and J. Nathans (2007)
Science 318, 196c
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)