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Biotechnology

Biotechnology, in cost-benefit terms, has been improving by a factor of ten every year. The cost of deciphering the human genome has dropped from $3 billion in 2001 to about $1,000 today.  A process that took months ten years ago can now be completed in less than an hour.  And as biotechnology becomes more accessible, so do its life-improving applications.

New scientific discoveries and applications such as CRISPR now provide a way of making specific and precise changes to the DNA that is contained within living cells. This ability to ‘cut’ DNA in specific places is revolutionising the life sciences.  And CAR-T-cell therapies are offering treatments for cancer and diseases with efficacy rates never before dreamed of. 

Regenerative biotechnology offers the opportunity to replace surgery with biological stimulates which regenerate human tissue where once a transplant may have been needed, whilst other fields of biotech offer the chance to reengineer and rejuvenate human organs outside of the body.  Biotechnology is complex and challenging, yet its promise to improve human life is significant and is increasingly in reach. 

BigThink
July 6, 2021

Want to tackle poverty? Start with blindness

One of the underreported tragedies of our time is that nearly 90% of the world's blind live in low-income countries where poverty and blindness perpetuate in a descending cycle
Medium
June 4, 2021

Curing impoverished communities of blindness: a story from the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation

Growing up, Soorya Mani Rai did not have access to education — there wasn’t a local school in her area, and her parents could not afford to send her away to study. But as it is in the hills of Nepal, there is plenty to do — even for a growing child.
Medium
June 4, 2021

Curing blindness caused by caste-based discrimination: a story from the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation

63 year old Chandrawati Harijan lives in Mahilwar, Lumbini — 15 minutes west of Maya Devi Temple, the exact place where Lord Buddha was born more than 2500 years ago.

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Latest Biotechnology Stories by Tej Kohli

BigThink
July 6, 2021

Want to tackle poverty? Start with blindness

One of the underreported tragedies of our time is that nearly 90% of the world's blind live in low-income countries where poverty and blindness perpetuate in a descending cycle
Medium
June 4, 2021

Curing impoverished communities of blindness: a story from the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation

Growing up, Soorya Mani Rai did not have access to education — there wasn’t a local school in her area, and her parents could not afford to send her away to study. But as it is in the hills of…
Medium
June 4, 2021

Curing blindness caused by caste-based discrimination: a story from the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation

63 year old Chandrawati Harijan lives in Mahilwar, Lumbini — 15 minutes west of Maya Devi Temple, the exact place where Lord Buddha was born more than 2500 years ago.
Medium
June 4, 2021

Curing blindness at the Buddha Maya Temple: a story from the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation

When Murathi Parsi of the Kapilavastu District of Nepal went blind, surgery was out of reach. Despite living only one hour away from an eye hospital, the family simply did not have the USD $70…
Medium
June 3, 2021

Curing blindness caused by poverty: a story from the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation

For Shri Mani Rai, her earliest memory is of flowers, beautiful and colourful flowers at her childhood home in Solukhumbu in the foothills of Mount Everest. At the age of sixteen, she was…
Medium
June 3, 2021

Changing a life by curing blindness: a story from the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation

In medical terms, Tila Maya Rai is blind. Suffering from cataracts in both of her eyes, her vision is extremely blurred. It was only a matter of time that her cataracts would mature, making…
Medium
June 3, 2021

15 minutes to cure blindness: a story from the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation

In Solukhumbu, ahead of a high-volume cataract outreach surgery camp by the Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation, eye health personnel are making sure that no cataract patient will miss out on the…
Medium
June 3, 2021

London philanthropist aims to cure poverty-related blindness worldwide

Cataracts are usually thought to affect older people, but children can also develop them — take, for example, the story of 14-year-old Bipana Rai from Solukhumbu in Nepal, who was born…
Medium
June 2, 2021

London philanthropist aims to cure poverty-related blindness worldwide

London philanthropist Tej Kohli is funding large-scale pioneering research and treatment programs for conditions that cause sight loss…