Improving night vision
Military and police personnel go through specialized training and use the most advanced technologies to improve their night vision – a vital skill in carrying out certain operations. But what if we could enhance this feature without the help of tools or training? What if better night vision could be achieved by simply taking a pill? As futuresque as this concept sounds, it’s a question currently being researched by Ilyas Washington, an Assistant Professor in the department of ophthalmology at Columbia University.
In 1998, Ron Douglas of City University in London discovered that deep sea dragonfish use chlorophyll to see in their pitch black habitat. When Washington stumbled across the research, he wondered whether the same could be true in other animals and humans. “Given that our visual system isn’t that much different from how other animals – everything from fish to cows – see, I thought [using chlorophyll to enhance dim light vision] might be a general mechanism and not just isolated to this deep sea fish,” he says. “Through a similar approach we might also be able enhance human night vision and also slow the loss of night vision that occurs naturally as we age.”
Washington tested the theory by administering a chlorophyll type molecule to mice and rabbits and discovered that the animals given the pigment showed almost double the retinal response in dim light than those who didn’t receive it. Washington and his lab are currently moving towards human testing.
Washington’s other research includes developing treatments to prevent blindness mainly as a result of, age related macular degeneration (AMD) and Stargardt’s disease. Dr Washington is currently testing whether taking a modified form of vitamin A can help reduce the accumulation of damaged pigments in the eye, which contributes to blindness.
Washington is an assistant professor and the Michael Jaharis Scholar at Columbia’s Department of Ophthalmology. He holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles.
If you are interested in licensing technology from Dr. Washington's lab, please contact us at [email protected].