They created a Supermouse.
Superman can see the world in infrared. Humans can’t.
Mouse eyes, like human eyes, are limited to seeing “visible light”,
which makes up just a tiny portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
SuperMouse by SuperPeggy
Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China
and the University of Massachusetts Medical School developed an
“ocular nanoparticle” that can detect near-infrared light (NIR).
They injected it directly into the eyes of mice. Their study*
shows that the mice were given “super vision”, allowing them
to see beyond the visible spectrum, without any effects
on their regular vision.
The team ran the mice through a series of water Y-mazes in an effort
to determine whether they could make out visual patterns in infrared
light to find a hidden platform. They trained the mice to associate an
infrared light pattern with the platform and then tested both injected
mice and non-injected mice to see how they fared.Mice that did no
t receive the ocular injections only correctly found the platform 50 percent
of the time, but those with the nanoparticles in their eyes were abl
e to do so around 80 percent of the time even in the dark.
Moreover, the nanoparticles continued to work for up to 10 weeks
without any residual side effects or long-term damage to normal vision.
Because the new technology is compatible with regular vision,
it could provide a new way for mammalian vision enhancement
or even open up new avenues to repair normal vision —
the nanoparticles could be tweaked so they parse different
wavelengths or alter them to deliver drugs into the eye.
CURIOUS to the MAX 