• Question: What is colour-blindness?

    Asked by Ayayai to Chris, Hayley, Jimi on 17 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Jimi Wills

      Jimi Wills answered on 17 Mar 2016:

      There are four types of light-detecting cells in your eye:

      Rods – very sensitive – but only see black and white
      3 types of cone cells – see different colours

      The 3 types of cone cells are called S, M and L, and they are sensitive to different ranges of colour. (S=blue, M=green, L=red)

      Colourblindness is a family of genetic conditions where one or more of the cone types is missing or does not work.

      Normally we can see red, green and blue. Our brains put the signals together to see different colours.

      If a type of cone is missing or broken, then you can’t see that colour properly, and you are colour blind.

    • Photo: Hayley Moulding

      Hayley Moulding answered on 17 Mar 2016:

      My best friend is colour blind. He thinks my hair is green not ginger! What happens is there are little cells are the back of our eyes which detect light. Sometimes there are changes in these cells and they don’t work properly. Some of them can be missing and because of this, particular colours cannot be seen. We use combinations of colours to see, and if one is missing, it makes it harder to work out colours. However, even if some of the cells are missing and so the colour is missing, people who are colour blind are really good at seeing people who are camouflaged! If someone is trying to hide wearing green in a forest, someone who is colour blind might be able to see the different shade of green better than someone who is not colour blind! Cool aye!?

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