SEATTLE – Researchers in the US have made a breakthrough discovery which could bring a cure for colour blindness and other diseases that can lead to a total loss of sight.

Using gene therapy, the boffins successfully treated a pair of squirrel monkeys that could not differentiate between red and green.

The development could bring new treatments for a variety of different diseases that are triggered by faulty cone cells at the back of the eye. The problem can lead to diseases such as macular degeneration, which often causes complete blindness.

The research, which was led by Jay Neitz, professor of ophthalmology at the University of Washington, has been published in the scientific journal Nature, reports The Daily Express.

Professor Neitz said: “People who are colour blind often feel that they are missing out. If we could find a way to do this with complete safety in human eyes, as we did with monkeys, I think there would be a lot of people who would want it.

“Beyond that, we hope this technology will be useful in correcting lots of different vision disorders.”