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Grant Albano-Richardson


Tetra1

imagine seeing things all the time that other people can’t? Tetrachromacy is what 12% of the female population live with every day. Women with this condition are able to see much more diverse color spectrum that is 100x greater than that of a normal person. Not every person with tetrachromacy can actually see more colors though. Some people have the condition but are unable to actually make any use of it. The reason they are able to see more colors is because of a fourth cone in their eyes. This is most likely caused by a genetic mutation in one of our light absorbing opsin molecules. Most people have three normal cones that make up what we see. These pictures above are by artist Concetta Antico, a woman with this condition. As you can see they look very colorful and almost fictional. It is hard for people who don’t have tetrachromacy to see what they artist actually envisioned while creating this, but you can kind of imagine what she sees.


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