Why in News?

Scientists have reported an experimental therapy, CRMA-1001, that silences the DNA of the hepatitis B virus in infected mice, offering a path to a functional cure.

Key Points

• The problem: The hepatitis B virus (HBV) hides as DNA in liver cells for years and can reactivate. Current treatments rarely remove this DNA, so the virus can come back.
• The idea: The therapy switches off the viral DNA instead of attacking the virus. It adds a chemical tag (methyl group) to the DNA, a process called methylation.
• How it works: A CRISPR-based locator finds the viral DNA, and an effector adds the methyl tags. The therapy is delivered on an mRNA platform.
• Results in mice: After three doses, up to 90% of animals had viral DNA below detectable levels six months after the first dose.
• Limits: It is a functional cure, not a full cure. The viral DNA is still in the liver, and it is not known whether the virus can return after six months.

Background

• Epigenetics: Changes in how genes are switched on or off without changing the DNA sequence.
• Functional cure: The virus is so well suppressed that the patient shows no active disease, even though viral DNA remains.
• Hepatitis B: A liver infection that can become chronic, leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer. About 254 million people worldwide have chronic infection. A vaccine prevents it.
• India: The National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme (2018) aims to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030.
• World Hepatitis Day is on 28 July.

Why in News?

Bhutan is raising 108 jangchub chortens (stupas of enlightenment) along the Mau Chhu river at Gelephu on 1 November, most of them holding Buddhist relics of Indian origin. The event lays the spiritual foundation of the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), which borders Assam.

Background

• Gelephu Mindfulness City: Announced by Bhutan’s King on National Day, 17 December 2023. A planned Special Administrative Region of about 1,000 sq km in the south, with its own laws, meant as a spirituality-driven global economic hub. It lies about 240 km from Thimphu, on the border with Assam.
• India link: The city is across the border from Assam, and India set up a temporary immigration post at Hatisar (24 October to 6 November) for the event.
• Bhutan: A Himalayan kingdom of Vajrayana Buddhism, with Gross National Happiness as its guiding goal, and a close partner of India.

Significance

• Cultural diplomacy: The relics of Indian origin show the shared Buddhist heritage that links India and Bhutan, and add to India’s soft power.
• Neighbourhood ties: India is next to Gelephu, so a successful city on its border can deepen trade, connectivity and investment links.
• Spiritual base for development: Bhutan is building its new city on mindfulness and Gross National Happiness, not only on economic growth.
• Buddhist circuit: It gives fresh momentum to Buddhist pilgrimage and tourism across the Himalayan region and the Indian border states.

Facts on the Stupa

• Meaning: A stupa is a solid mound-shaped Buddhist monument that holds relics of the Buddha or revered monks. In Tibetan Buddhism it is called a chorten, meaning “seat of offering”.
• Origin: After the Buddha’s parinirvana, his relics were divided among eight groups, who built the first eight stupas, at Rajagriha, Vaishali, Kapilavastu, Allakappa, Ramagrama, Pava, Kushinagar and Vethapida. The Piprahwa stupa is among the earliest surviving, and the Vaishali relic stupa is possibly the earliest known.
• Ashoka: Tradition says Emperor Ashoka opened seven of the eight stupas, redistributed the relics, and built 84,000 stupas.
• Parts of a stupa: Anda (hemispherical dome, “egg”), medhi (drum or terrace), harmika (square railing on top, “abode of the gods”), yashti (central mast, the cosmic axis), chhatra (tiered umbrellas, linked to the Triratna: Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha), vedika (railing), torana (gateway) and pradakshina patha (circumambulation path).
• Five types: Relic (holds bodily remains), object (holds items used by the Buddha), commemorative, symbolic and votive stupas.
• Sanchi: The Great Stupa began in the Ashokan period. In Ashoka’s time the dome was of brick and the railing and gateways of wood, and stone was used later. The carved toranas date to the Satavahana period (1st century BCE or CE). Sanchi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1989).
• Other early stupas: Bharhut (Madhya Pradesh, about 115 BCE), Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh, Satavahana, white marble) and Sarnath (site of the Buddha’s first sermon).
• Jangchub chorten: One form of Tibetan chorten, built to mark the Buddha’s enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. Tibetan chortens vary in form according to the event they mark, based on the “Eight Great Stupas” tradition.

Why in News?

The cockscomb flower (Celosia cristata), called mawal in Kashmir, is being highlighted as the natural source of the crimson colour in Kashmir’s traditional wazwan dishes. Its petals are hand-picked, sun-dried and stored for year-round use.

About the Cockscomb flower

• Botanical name: Celosia cristata, also classed as Celosia argentea var. cristata, the crested variety of the species. Common names include cockscomb, crested celosia and mawal (Kashmiri).
• Family: Amaranthaceae (order Caryophyllales), the family of amaranth. The genus Celosia has about 60 species.
• Appearance: A herbaceous annual that completes its life cycle in about three to four months. The crest is a fused, velvety, fan-shaped flower head (inflorescence) that looks like a rooster’s comb, in red, pink, orange or yellow.
• Native region: Likely native to India, where it has long been planted near temples, and also grown in Burma and China. The plant is of tropical origin but grows in the warmer months in cooler regions such as the Kashmir Valley.
• Pigment: The red colour comes from betalains (betacyanins), water-soluble plant pigments also found in other Amaranthaceae.
• Uses: The flowers and leaves are edible, and the seeds are classed as a pseudocereal. Kashmiri hakims use the dried, powdered red flowers and seeds in Unani remedies.
• Processing in Kashmir: Flowers are hand-picked at peak bloom, sun-dried and stored. The dried flower or powder is steeped in hot water, and the ruby extract is strained into simmering gravies, without changing the taste or aroma.
• Where used: Rogan josh, rista, mirchi korma and dum aloo, together with mild Kashmiri red chillies. It is sold in the traditional markets of Srinagar.
• Cooling property: In traditional medicine it is valued as a cooling agent, said to help digest rich, meaty courses.

About Wazwan

• Wazwan: Kashmir’s multi-course feast, traditionally up to 36 courses, cooked by master chefs called wazas and served on a copper plate called a traem.
• Origin: Linked to cooks and artisans who came from Samarkand in the time of Timur (14th to 15th century).
• Rogan josh: “Rogan” means fat and “josh” means high heat. A Pandit version uses ratan jot, a plant dye, for colour.
• Cooking style: Prepared in large copper vessels over wood fire, with no synthetic colours.