Scientists create super-mice that can see in the dark. Here's what that means for humans.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
No one is ditching the night-vision goggles just yet, but scientists working in the United States and China have developed a technique that they say could one day give humans the ability to see in the dark.
The technique involves injecting the eyes with particles that act like tiny antennae that take infrared light — wavelengths that are invisible to humans and other mammals — and convert it to visible wavelengths. Mammals can see wavelengths in just a sliver of the electromagnetic spectrum , and the new technique is designed to widen that sliver.
The nanoparticle injections haven't been tried on humans, but experiments on mice show that they confer the ability to see infrared light without interfering with the perception of light in the visible range. The effect worked during the day and at night and lasted for several weeks. The rodents were left unharmed once it wore off.
Gang Han, a chemist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and a co-author of a new paper describing the research, said in a statement that the technique could lead to a better understanding of visual perception and possibly lead to new ways to treat color blindness.
But those are far from the only possible applications if the technique can be made to work safely in other mammals, including humans. In an email to NBC News MACH, Han said it might be possible to use nanoparticle injections to create "superdogs" that could make it easier to apprehend lawbreakers in darkness.
"For ordinary people," he added, "we may also see our sky in a completely different way" both at night and during the day because many celestial objects give off infrared light.
The technique doesn't confer the ability to see the longer-wavelength infrared light given off by living bodies and other warm objects, Tian Xue, a neuroscientist at the University of Science and Technology of China and a co-author of the paper, said in an email. But at least theoretically, it could give humans the ability to see bodies and objects in darkness without the use of night-vision gear — though an infrared light would still be needed.
For their research, Han, Xue and their collaborators injected the rodents' eyes with nanoparticles treated with proteins that helped "glue" the particles to light-sensitive cells in the animals' retinas. Once the tiny antennae were in place, the scientists hypothesized, the nanoparticles would convert infrared light into shorter wavelengths, which the animals would then perceive as green light.
To make sure the mice were actually seeing the converted infrared light, the scientists subjected the animals to a number of tests, including one in which they were given a choice of entering a totally dark box or one illuminated only with infrared light. (Mice are nocturnal, and ordinarily they prefer darkness.) Control animals showed no preference — because both boxes appeared dark to them — while treated mice showed a distinct preference for the dark box.
Other scientists praised the research while expressing doubts about trying the technique in humans.
Harvard neuroscientist Michael Do said in an email that the experiments were "sophisticated" and that the technique was likely to work in humans as well as in mice. But he said it was unclear just how sharp the infrared vision would be in humans, and he cautioned that the injections might damage delicate structures in the eye.
Glen Jeffery, a neuroscientist at the University College London, expressed similar praise for the research — but even graver doubts. "Injecting any material under the retina is risky and should never be done unless there is a clear and justifiable clinical reason..." he said in an email. "I have no idea how you could use this technology to human advantage and would never support its application on healthy humans."
But the researchers are moving ahead. Han said the team planned to test the technique in bigger animals — possibly dogs.
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Now how cool is this? Downsides?
Not super great for snakes and other predators.
Peeping Toms and cat burglars will be lining up for the procedure.
You know Good Sister.. you take my mind to places that it should never go. And worse than that! I enjoy it.
Own some gen. 3 night optics. Nothing out of DARPA would surprise me.
I don't know if I could handle watching an injection into my eyes.
I would need some really good drugs.
Ditto.
I did see my sister get LESEK and I got to tell ya, anything to do with the eyes makes me wanna pass out.
But ask me to do an autopsy on someone's brain, I'm fine. Go figure?
Crazy mad scientists. Mice don't need any more powers than they already have.
As for me, I have several very powerful flashlights. I don't need the mad scientists putting their nano-mutation potions in my eyes. Back up Igor!
First time I ever voted you up.
The only good thing about mice is that they keep my hawk and my cats fed.
But I like mice!
So does my cat Wally, but not in the way that I do. He kind of thinks of them as toys. I have a toy right now under my fridge I think. Wally seems to interested in what's going on under the fridge.
I can see it having military purposes. Otherwise, what? Night driving truck drivers?
Just think of all the money we'd save on our electric bills.
LOL
What would it do to our sleep cycles?
Now that's an interesting thought.
Can you still see all heat traces in your house through your eye lids when they are closed ?
Me thinks it would create more insane people than we already have !
Good question!
Don't worry! Soon they will be advertising a pill to correct this problem. Possible side effects may include:
headache, slow clotting, back pain, eye cancer, stiff muscles, loss of immunity, infertility, lymphoma, tremors, memory problems, gum disease, painful rectal itch. You may experience some other side effects not listed. Please tell your doctor if you do.
Aren't IR eyeglasses simpler?