Healing Blindness in Mice

by Shaun McGarry, Vice Chairman on 27th April 2011 6:52 pm
Sections: Medical,News,Technology
Comments: 0 Add a Comment

Dear Members,

Here is an interesting story from the medical research world about restoring vision.
See below for extract or click on following link for full story.
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/37467/?nlid=4395

---- Extract from MIT Technology Review –

Biomedicine - Healing Blindness in Mice

Delivering light-sensitive proteins to the retinas of blind mice restores some vision.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011
By Emily Singer

Viruses can deliver light-sensitive proteins to specific cells in the retinas of blind mice, allowing rudimentary vision, according to new research. Although previous studies have shown that the light-sensitive proteins can be beneficial, the delivery methods were not practical for humans. The viral-delivery method is similar to ones already used in human gene therapy.

The new light-sensitive proteins were active for the length of the study, about 10 months, suggesting the treatment would work long-term. In addition, the therapy appeared safe; the proteins, which were derived from algae, remained within the eye, and they did not trigger inflammation.

"In my opinion, the biggest step forward in this paper is the use of viral delivery techniques, the same delivery techniques that would have to be used should the technique move on into human treatment," says Thomas Münch, a researcher at the University of Tübingen, who was not involved in the study but has done similar research. Recent gene-therapy studies, which used similar viruses to deliver different proteins, have shown preliminary success in treating a rare genetic form of blindness in patients.But the current approach could be applied to a much broader group of people because it could restore light-sensitivity to the retina regardless of the cause of degeneration.

To restore vision, Alan Horsager, a researcher at the University of Southern California, and collaborators capitalized on optogenetics, a type of genetic engineering that makes neurons sensitive to light. They used a specially designed virus to deliver numerous copies of the gene that makes a protein called channelrhodopsin to the eye. The protein forms a channel that sits on a cell's membrane and opens when exposed to light. Positively charged ions then rush into the cell, triggering an electrical message that is transferred to other cells in the retina.

The gene was modified so that it became active only in specific retinal cells called bipolar cells. In a healthy eye, these cells are activated when adjacent photoreceptor cells detect light. The researchers hope that making the bipolar cells directly responsive to light in an eye stricken by retinal degenerative diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa or macular degeneration, could enable the altered cells to replace photoreceptors that have died off. Horsager cofounded a startup called Eos Neuroscience, along with MIT neuroscientist Ed Boyden, to commercialize the approach.

.....

--- end of extract

For full story click on http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/37467/?nlid=4395

Regards
Shaun

href="http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/37467/?nlid=4395&a=f" >http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/37467/?nlid=4395&a=f &a=f

NCODP organises Wednesday 11th May Demonstration, Lobby of Parliament and Rally in London

by Shaun McGarry, Vice Chairman on 16th April 2011 8:04 am
Sections: Events
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Dear Members and friends

The NCoDP is organising and hiring coaches to take as many people who would like to go and show the central government, a unified show of strength of our feeling with their methods and scope in cutting our benefits.

See the message below.

If you cannot come then please support this special day by writing to or phoning your MP to make it clear to them, how much the loss of your benefit will hurt you, or even better, make an appointment to go and see your MP in person.

Thank you.

Shaun McGarry, Vice Chairman

Great Yarmouth VIP User Group

01493 60 22 72 — 07 985 916 244

vicechair@gyvipusergroup.org.uk

http://www.gyvipusergroup.org.uk/ www.gyvipusergroup.org.uk

*** Achieving Respect and Understanding for Visually Impaired People ***

=== message from NCoDP ====

Subject: Wednesday 11th May – Demonstration, Lobby of Parliament and Rally in London

The Hardest Hit

Defending Disabled People’s Future

Demonstration, Lobby of Parliament and Rally in London

Wednesday 11th May

NCODP is calling on all our members to join us in London on 11th May together with thousands of disabled people to express solidarity and anger at the cuts threatening our benefits, services, jobs and rights.

We are providing a coach with wheelchair access for our members to attend this event.

There are further details regarding the day in the attached letter along with a registration form.

If you are interested in attending please complete theattached registration form and return to us as soon as possible either via email or to the address on the form.

Or you can register online at http://www.campaignagainstcuts.org.uk/may112011 http://www.campaignagainstcuts.org.uk/may112011.

Or phone the office on 01508 49 12 10.

Please can you forward this onto your groups members.

Thank you

Description: cid:336563613@15042011-21FB

Mark Harrison

Chief Executive

NCODP

Web. www.ncodp.org.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/ncodp Facebook: http://bit.ly/ncodp-facebook support NCODP when you shop at Amazon: www.ncodp.org.uk/amazon

Norfolk Coalition of Disabled People 15 Manor Farm Barns Fox Road Framingham Pigot Norwich Norfolk NR14 7PZ Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England and Wales No. 4098341 Registered Charity No. 1084108 Registered VAT No. 927 9604 86

Please note this email is sent via an unsecure system and there may be a small risk that information may be intercepted. The information contained in this email is intended only for the person or organisation to which it is addressed. If you have received it by mistake, please disregard and notify the sender immediately. Unauthorised disclosure or use of such information may be a breach of legislation or confidentiality and may be legally privileged. Emails sent from and received by volunteers and employees of Norfolk Coalition of Disabled People (NCODP) may be monitored. Unless this email relates to NCODP business it will be regarded by the NCODP as personal and will not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the NCODP. The sender will have sole responsibility for any legal actions or disputes that may arise.

May 11th event letter – letterhead.doc

Bus Concession before 9:30

by Shaun McGarry, Vice Chairman on 11th April 2011 8:22 am
Sections: Campaigns,News
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We are starting a campaign to get back our Bus Travel Concession for journeys before the 9:30am start time. The County Council has decided in their wisdom, to withdraw the benefit for all registered blind travellers, caught up in the budget cuts. We had lost the concession because there was no data to show how many or indeed how few journeys the registered blind users have made, mixed in all the 750,000 bus journeys, in the last year, made before the 9:30am deadline. The vast majority of these numbers were the retired pensioners themselves.

We need to build up evidence to show to the Council that there are a very small number of blind people travelling before the 9:30am and more importantly show how vital this benefit is to us.

Some of the advantages reported by members as follows :

· Get to College, to start at 9am. Blind Students are trying very hard to better themselves and now have to find the extra money out of their own hard pressed benefits to pay for the journey cost.

· Do voluntary work. Quite a number of volunteers who like to give something back to the community needs to start work and this means catching an earlier bus.

· Do shopping before the rush. Most often the best times to do shopping is just after when the shops open, while there isn?t too many customers about and assistance is easier to obtain.

· Attend exercise classes. Doing exercises is just as important for the blind as to other people but perhaps even more important as it is sometimes difficult trying to maintain our health.

· Seeking Jobs. Attending interviews sometimes require an early start and the extra travel costs is not the ideal incentive for us to keep looking for work, is it?

For all blind and partially sighted people, there is no other choice to making these journeys, without paying the huge cost of taxi including the slightly less expensive community transport like Door to Door, Dial a ride, and Transport Plus (formerly known as Car Link). We cannot afford a car or drive it anywhere, at any time, we therefore rely on Public Transport completely, to get us to do our daily living, whether it is a chore like shopping or exercise to keep healthy.

It is £4 for a Great Yarmouth to Norwich journey with First Bus (apparently they don?t offer half price) and £3.70 with Anglian Buses but they do offer half price so it is actually £1.90 which is very good of them. Well done Anglian Bus & Coach Limited, see http://www.anglianbus.co.uk/timetables.

We need to collect all bus tickets from everyone who has to make the early journey and we can then present the tickets as evidence.

Please let us know if you make a journey before 9:30am, we will be doing a telephone survey soon to ask our members.

Thank you.

Shaun McGarry, Vice Chairman

Great Yarmouth VIP User Group

01493 60 22 72 — 07 985 916 244

vicechair@gyvipusergroup.org.uk

http://www.gyvipusergroup.org.uk/ www.gyvipusergroup.org.uk

*** Achieving Respect and Understanding for Visually Impaired People ***

Enquiry to Council’s Returning Officer about accessibility on 5th May

by Shaun McGarry, Vice Chairman on 6th April 2011 8:51 pm
Sections: News
Comments: 0 Add a Comment

I have written a letter to the council’s Returning Officer, Miss Harvey, to ask her a series of questions to find out what accessible assistance on the election day itself as well as accessible alternative media format for postal or proxy voting.

At the last election, I used a plastic strips with little numbered doors which I could lift up and place my cross. But the staff were not fully aware of this tool, so I wanted to remind the Returning Officer to make sure the staff are better prepared.

I await for her reply.

regards

Shaun McGarry, Vice Chairman

Great Yarmouth VIP User Group

01493 60 22 72 — 07 985 916 244

vicechair@gyvipusergroup.org.uk

http://www.gyvipusergroup.org.uk/ www.gyvipusergroup.org.uk

*** Achieving Respect and Understanding for Visually Impaired People ***