12 h. ago Moment young children who were born blind see again thanks to groundbreaking British gene therapy treatment

Toddlers who were born with the most severe form of childhood blindness can now see after groundbreaking gene therapy treatment at an NHS hospital.

Economics

45 h. ago Groundbreaking drug treats rare genetic disorder in the womb for first time ever

Children with a severe form of the genetic disorder often don't live past age two

Events

58 h. ago This rare genetic disorder was just treated in the womb for the first time ever

Without treatment, those with the more severe form of illness may die before their second birthday

Politics

59 h. ago Doctors in London cure blindness in children with rare condition

Four children can now see shapes, find toys, recognise their parents’ faces and some can read and writeDoctors in London have become the first in the world to cure blindness in children born with a rare genetic condition using a pioneering gene therapy.The children had leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a severe form of retinal dystrophy that causes vision loss due to a defect in the AIPL1 gene. Those affected are legally certified as blind from birth. Continue reading...

Society

59 h. ago Brit scientists first in world to use DNA therapy to stop toddlers going blind

British scientists have become the first in the world to use a pioneering gene therapy to preserve sight in toddlers with the most severe form of childhood blindness.

Politics

3 d. ago Hope for children with severe form of epilepsy as NHS rolls out new drug

Fenfluramine has been recommended by Nice for patients aged two and over with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

Events

5 d. ago Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone review – these incredible children offer a sliver of hope

This often-distressing BBC documentary follows astonishing kids working as TikTok chefs and hospital porters – and shows their determination to smile in the face of unimaginable horrorThe children of Gaza will be its future, if they are able to remain there. Starting several months into Israel’s bombardment and continuing right up until the recent ceasefire, London-based directors Jamie Roberts and Yousef Hammash made their documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone by remotely instructing two local cameramen, Amjad Al Fayoumi and Ibrahim Abu Ishaiba, as they captured life inside the “safe zone” – an ever-changing, ever-dwindling area in the south-west of Gaza, designated by Israel as the place where displaced Palestinians should reside. That the cameras predominantly follow children has an unexpected double effect: it makes the film’s many deeply distressing moments all the more unbearable, yet it tinges them with some sort of hope.The kids are led by 13-year-old Abdullah, who acts...

Events

6 d. ago ‘No safe place’: the BBC documentary showing Gaza through a child’s eyes

BBC Two’s Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone gathers intimate footage of three children surviving in the besieged strip“Have you ever wondered what you’d do if your world is destroyed?” asks 13-year-old Abdullah, speaking at the beginning of an intimate BBC Two documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, that airs on Monday night. “Most important, could you stay alive? After all this, you could say we’re experts.”Abdullah, now 14 and heading back to his prewar home in the north of the shattered territory, is the English-speaking narrator – one of three children whose stories of hope and endurance are at the heart of an hour-long film, a distinctive and deliberate choice intended to make the film resonate after 15 months of war. Continue reading...

Culture