Lifestyle
World’s first gene therapy to stop most common cause of blindness

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Oxford researchers claim to have carried out the world’s first gene therapy operation to halt age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of untreatable blindness in the developed world.
Dry AMD is a slow deterioration of the cells of the macula. It affects the central part of a patient’s vision with gaps or ‘smudges’, making everyday activities like reading and recognising faces difficult.
If successful, the treatment could have a beneficial impact of patients’ quality of life and their ability to remain independent.
“A genetic treatment administered early on to preserve the vision in patients who would otherwise lose their sight would be a tremendous breakthrough and certainly something I hope to see in the near future,” said Robert MacLaren, Professor at the University of Oxford in the UK.
The first person to undergo the procedure was Janet Osborne of Oxford, said MacLaren, who carried out the procedure at the John Radcliffe Hospital in the UK.
Like many people with AMD, Osborne has the condition in both eyes, but it is more advanced in her left eye. As is typical with this condition, the central vision in her left eye has deteriorated and is very hazy, although her peripheral vision is better.
The 80-year-old said that her restricted vision makes household tasks like preparing vegetables and sewing difficult, and she cannot read for very long. She finds it hard to recognise faces.
Osborne said her motivation for taking part in the trial was the possibility of helping others with AMD.
“I wasn’t thinking of me. I was thinking of other people. For me, I hope my sight doesn’t get any worse. That would be fantastic. It means I wouldn’t be such a nuisance to my family,” she said.
The operation involves detaching the retina and injecting a solution containing a virus underneath.
The virus contains a modified DNA sequence, which infects cells, called the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and corrects a genetic defect that causes AMD.
Ideally if successful, gene therapy would only need to be performed once, as the effects are thought to be long-lasting.
A key factor in AMD is the complement system, a system of proteins in our immune system that fights bacteria.
In macular degeneration, these proteins are over-active and start to attack the retinal cells, in a similar way to how they would attack bacteria.
“We are harnessing the power of the virus, a naturally occurring organism, to deliver the DNA into the patient’s cells,” MacLaren said.
“When the virus opens up inside the retinal cell it releases the DNA of the gene we have cloned, and the cell starts making a protein that we think can modify the disease, correcting the imbalance of the inflammation caused by the complement system,” he said.
“The idea of this gene therapy is to ‘deactivate’ the complement system, but at a very specific point at the back of the eye, so the patient would otherwise be unaffected by it, and we hope that in future it will slow down the progression of macular degeneration,” said McLaren.
“We have a better understanding now on the relationship between the complement system and the AMD disease which lead us to the discovery that restoring the balance of a hyperactive complement system could be a potential therapeutic approach in dry AMD,” said Peter Lachman, the scientist from the University of Cambridge.
The aim of the therapy is to halt the progress of the condition and preserve what vision patients have remaining.
If successful, it is hoped that gene therapy can be used in the future on patients with early AMD and so halt the disease before their vision has started to deteriorate.
(Inputs from media reports)
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Lifestyle
VIRAL: Video of Dharavi girl Maleesha Kharwa seeing her hoardings outside luxury beauty outlet will make your day
Being a fashion mogul, Kharwa decided to be a part of the industry at the age of 5 when she first saw Priyanka Chopra walking the ramp at a fashion show.

Dharavi girl, Maleesha Kharwa, is hogging headlines ever since she became the face of the luxury beauty brand, Forest Essentials for their new campaign The Yuvati Collection.
The viral video of the 14-year-old girl seeing her hoardings outside Forest Essentials’ outlet will surely make your day. It was a dream come true for her and her joy knew no bounds. She could not believe that she had become the face of the luxury brand.
It can be seen in the video that the joy of the girl knew no bounds when she entered the outlet of the beauty brand and see her face on its products. The video was shared by Forest Essentials on their social media handles.
Watch the video here:
Maleesha Kharwa did not make waves on social media for the first time and becoming the face of Forest Essentials is not the only feather she has on her cap. Cited as the Princess of Slums, Kharwa was discovered by a Hollywood filmmaker who made her dreams come true.
Being a fashion mogul, Kharwa decided to be a part of the industry at the age of 5 when she first saw Priyanka Chopra walking the ramp at a fashion show. Before becoming the face of Forest Essentials, she was featured in Cosmopolitan India for their issue Guts Guts Guts! along with Sameera Shetty and Kusha Kapila.
She has a verified Instagram profile with more than 200K fan following. If you are an avid social media user and have stalked her handle, you cannot help but notice her collaborations with noted photographs, brands, and celebrities.
But this is not it. Kharwa has more than Forest Essentials and magazine covers in her kitty. The aspiring model has also bagged two Hollywood films and got featured in a short film Live Your Fairytale.
Helmed by Arsala Qureishi and Jas Sagu, the film captures the experience of five children from a slum who eats at a fancy restaurant for the first time in life.
Lifestyle
Mother’s Day 2023: Easy speech and essay ideas to appreciate your mother
This year, Mother’s Day is being celebrated on May 14.

Preparations are in full swing as Mother’s Day is just a day ahead. However, every day is Mother’s Day because we cannot reciprocate the love they have showered on us and the sacrifices they have made for us.
But this occasion serves as an opportunity for children to make their mothers feel special. This year, Mother’s Day is being celebrated on May 14. Mother’s Day is another excuse to celebrate and strengthen this bond, foster emotional well-being and promote a culture of gratitude and respect for mothers and motherhood.
There are various ways to celebrate Mother’s Day but if you are planning to appreciate your mother with a cute speech and essay, then you have landed at the right place.
The celebration of Mother’s Day is one of the most popular occasions, especially for children. They celebrate their mother’s love on this day. A mother is the emblem of love and she displays all the affection she has for her children selflessly. She sacrifices all her needs without the intention of getting anything in return and wants just to get the needs of her children met. Without the presence of a mother, it would not have been possible to have our own life. You can find both Long and Short Mothers’ Day Speech in English below.
According to Leonardo DiCaprio, “My mother is a walking miracle.” This statement is very accurate. The birth of a mother occurs long before the birth of a child. Her time is not only spent growing her child but also educating him and helping him become a productive citizen of this nation. Mothers spend their lives fulfilling the dreams of others by giving up their own dreams. It is through her music that a child and a family can be filled with colors and melody.
The Bible says that God cannot be everywhere, and so he created mothers on Earth. In addition to being a symbol of love, mothers are also fierce warriors. In order for her child to be happy, she must overcome all obstacles. Anyone who has ever been born has been taught by her, had a friend, guide, philosopher, and even had a psychologist.
The word mother is indeed small but the feelings and importance are very big. We can never repay a mother for the sacrifices she makes, and it is impossible to do so in a lifetime. Interestingly, mothers are constant sources of energy and positivity for every child, and we should feel fortunate to be able to count on them as a source of support, forever.
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Everyone celebrates Mother’s Day in quite a homely and individualistic manner. Everyone shares a different bond with their mother so the celebrations vary from one home to another. Some children buy her presents and make greeting cards for them.
This way, they display their love for her. Some make them breakfast or take them out for dinner. While some family members do not let her work the whole day and do the chores themselves.
In schools, Mother’s Day is celebrated with great enthusiasm. The schools host programs for the mothers where the kids perform for them. Moreover, the school authorities also encourage children to make something for their mothers as a token of their love.
Other than that, there are also many discounts and offers in different stores on the occasion of Mothers’ Day. In addition, there are special programs broadcasted on television in honour of mothers all over the world. These special telecasts are dedicated to mothers all over and talk about motherhood.
Therefore, we see that this day is an auspicious one that appreciates the one whose efforts often go unnoticed. A mother is said to be a creation of God as he couldn’t be present everywhere. It is no lie that they are the real models in their children’s lives. So, always remember to tell your mother how much you love them and take every day as an opportunity to express your love for her.
Lifestyle
#BoycottStarbucks: Starbucks India gets backlash over its new LGBTQIA+ ad
The two-minute-long advertisement tells a story of a father who is not happy with her son’s decision to transition into a woman.

Starbucks is one of the most popular coffee brands across the globe. The American multinational chain of coffeehouses is hogging headlines after Starbucks India launched its new campaign, It Starts With Your Name, with an advertisement on LGBTQIA+.
The two-minute-long advertisement tells a story of a father who is not happy with her son’s decision to transition into a woman. The ad starts with the parents sitting at a Starbucks outlet and waiting for their now-daughter Arpita.
The father had her name saved as Arpit and not Arpita while the mother asks him not to be mad at their daughter like the previous time. It seemed the father had trouble accepting his son with his female identity. However, the ad shows the father had moved on from his stubbornness and accepted gender fluidity. As his daughter arrives, he orders three cold coffees by her name Arpita and not Arpit.
Watch the viral video here:
Sharing the ad, Starbucks India wrote “Your name defines who you are, whether it’s Arpit or Arpita. At Starbucks, we love and accept you for who you are. Because being yourself means everything to us.”
Why #BoycottStarbucks is trending?
The ad has left the internet divided. While a section of social media is furious at Starbucks for touching such a sensitive matter in India, others appreciated their move to spread awareness among people. Moreover, the ad has led to a new trend on Twitter #BoycottStarbucks wherein users are bashing the coffee brand.
One user wrote Starbucks seems less like a coffee company and more like an arm of the American geopolitical empire that uses its brand image to propagate toxic ideas about identity and culture.
Another user wrote lashed at the brand for promoting the American agenda in India.
Check out Twitter reactions here:
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