Downs Syndrome Archives | Restoring Liberty

Down’s Syndrome Cells ‘Fixed’ in First Step Towards Chromosome Therapy

July 18, 2013/0 Comments/in Featured, Kathleen's Korner /by Ian Sample

Photo Credit: Getty ImagesScientists have corrected the genetic fault that causes Down’s syndrome – albeit in isolated cells – raising the prospect of a radical therapy for the disorder.

In an elegant series of experiments, US researchers took cells from people with DS and silenced the extra chromosome that causes the condition. A treatment based on the work remains a distant hope, but scientists in the field said the feat was the first major step towards a “chromosome therapy” for Down’s syndrome.

“This is a real technical breakthrough. It opens up whole new avenues of research,” said Elizabeth Fisher, professor of neurogenetics at UCL, who was not involved in the study. “This is really the first sniff we’ve had of anything to do with gene therapy for Down’s syndrome.”

Around 750 babies are born with DS in Britain each year while globally between one in a 1000 and one in 1100 births are DS babies. Most experience learning difficulties.

Despite advances in medical care that allow most to live well into middle age, those who inherit the disorder are at risk of heart defects, bowel and blood disorders, and thyroid problems.

Report: Pakistani Blasphemy Case Against Christian Down Syndrome Girl Fabricated

September 3, 2012/1 Comment/in Kathleen's Korner /by Jon Boone

The case against a Pakistani Christian girl potentially facing a death sentence for allegedly burning sacred Islamic texts has been thrown into doubt after her local mullah was arrested on accusations of tampering with evidence in order to frame her.

Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti appeared in court on Sunday after witnesses claimed to have seen him adding pages of the Qur’an to a bag of ashes Rimsha Masih had been carrying away for disposal last month in order to strengthen the case against her.

Although many of the cases brought under the country’s much criticised blasphemy laws are thought to be spurious, the Rimsha case is thought to be the first time in the more than two decades since the laws were introduced that someone has been arrested for fabricating evidence.

But while the dramatic turn of events delighted the girl’s supporters, a prosecution lawyer insisted he would press ahead with the case against her.

Last month a local man, Malik Hammad, spotted the girl with the ashes and accused her of burning a prayer book that included passages from the Qur’an, a particularly provocative form of blasphemy which can carry the death penalty.

Video: Pakistanis Demanding Death Penalty for Christian Girl with Downs Syndrome for Blasphemy

August 28, 2012/0 Comments/in Kathleen's Korner, Video /by News Editor

Pakistani Police say an 11-year old disabled girl was arrested last week in a Christian area of the capital Islamabad, after a crowd of people demanded that she be punished for allegedly desecrating pages of the Muslim holy book. Here’s a BBC report on the girl’s current status:

Pakistani Christian with Down’s Syndrome arrested for blasphemy

August 20, 2012/2 Comments/in Kathleen's Korner /by BBC

Photo credit: Omer Wazir

Pakistani police have arrested a mentally disabled 11-year-old girl after a mob accused her of desecrating pages of the Koran. The mob demanded the Christian girl’s arrest and threatened to burn down Christian homes outside the capital Islamabad, local media say.

Officials said the girl could not properly answer police questions.

Her parents have been taken into protective custody following threats and other Christian families have fled.

It is thought that the girl has Down’s syndrome. Paul Bhatti, Pakistan’s minister for National Harmony, told the BBC that the girl was known to have a mental disorder and that it seemed “unlikely she purposefully desecrated the Koran”. “From the reports I have seen, she was found carrying a waste bag which also had pages of the Koran,” he said.

“This infuriated some local people and a large crowd gathered to demand action against her. The police were initially reluctant to arrest her, but they came under a lot of pressure from a very large crowd, who were threatening to burn down Christian homes.”

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