Retina Variations in Humans

Live Science has a piece about a study published recently in Journal of Neuroscience that describes the results of high resolution imaging of the retinas of living people. The scientists used adaptive optics to compensate for having to image through the (imperfect) lenses of the eyes. Comparing the images revealed large variations in the relative numbers of green and red cones. The fact that peoples' eyes are signficantly different on the micro-level isn't too surprising a result, when you think about it, given the fact that human bodies are self-assembling. However, the idea that there is a mechanism that allows humans as a group to recognize colors the same way even though our eyes are significantly different is very interesting.