Restoring vision of the three (color-blind) mice.

Actually this seems like a really cool study, and shows that 'instant upgrades' to vision are doable. But do more receptors in the eye translate to vision? Likely yes, in these behavioral experiments, which form the linchpin of the study (my opin).

Jacobs’ group at UCSB developed behavioral tests to determine whether the female mice could discriminate among colored lights by comparing the relative activation of the M and L cone cells. The researchers conducted tens of thousands of tests in which two different wavelengths or intensities of light were displayed on three test panels. Mice received a drop of soymilk as a reward when they correctly identified which panel differed from the other two. The genetically altered mice demonstrated their new visual ability by choosing the correct panel in 80 percent of the trials. By contrast, normal mice only chose correctly one third of the time, the score that one would obtain by guessing randomly among the three panels.

So, translationally, other adaptations are possible for humans; better sense of smell (most mammals have much better sense of smell), better hearing, better vision...by studying animals with hightened senses, ie eagles for better vision, we can determine what creates that hightened sense at a biochemical level. Further, senses research can ultimately restore a sense to a deprived (ie blind) person.