Welcome to the world of the newly genetically-modified salmon - 'the Frankenfish'

Genetically modified 'Frankenfish' set to hit shelves after FDA finds salmon that grows twice as fast as normal poses no threat to human health

• Fish would be the first genetically altered animal approved for food anywhere in the world
• The AquaAdvantage salmon has an added growth hormone from the Pacific Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce growth hormone all year long

DAILYMAIL
December 22, 2012

A salmon genetically modified to grow twice as fast as normal earning a nickname of ‘Frankenfish’ has been approved by federal health regulators making it the first scientifically engineered animal for human consumption.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday released its environmental assessment of the AquaAdvantage salmon, a faster-growing fish which has been subject to a contentious, years long debate at the agency. The document concludes that the fish 'will not have any significant impacts on the quality of the human environment of the United States.' Regulators also said that the fish is unlikely to harm populations of natural salmon, a key concern for environmental activists.


Growth spurt: The overwhelming size comparison of a genetically modified AquAdvantage Salmon, compared to a non-transgenic Atlantic salmon sibling in the foreground of the same age, are seen

The FDA will take comments from the public on its report for 60 days before making it final.
The FDA said more than two years ago that the fish appears to be safe to eat, but the agency had taken no public action since then. Executives for the company behind the fish, Maynard, Mass.-based Aquabounty, speculated that the government was delaying action on their application due to push-back from groups who oppose genetically modified food animals.
Experts view the release of the environmental report as the final step before approval.

'We are encouraged that the environmental assessment is being released and hope the government continues the science-based regulatory process,' AquaBounty said in a statement.
If FDA regulators clear the salmon, as expected, it would be the first genetically altered animal approved for food anywhere in the world.

Critics call the modified salmon a 'frankenfish.' They worry that it could cause human allergies and the eventual decimation of the natural salmon population if it escapes and breeds in the wild. Others believe breeding engineered animals is an ethical issue.


Restrictions: Some of the fish eggs are seen which are born all female and sterile, though AquaBounty says a small percentage may still be able to breed

AquaBounty has maintained that the fish is safe and that there are several safeguards against environmental problems. The fish would be bred female and sterile, though a very small percentage might still be able to breed. The company said the potential for escape is low. The FDA backed these assertions in documents released in 2010.

Since its founding in 1991, Aquabounty has burned through more than $67 million developing the fast-growing fish. According to its midyear financial report, the company had less than $1.5 million in cash and stock left. It has no other products in development. Genetically engineered – or GE – animals are not clones, which the FDA has already said are safe to eat. Clones are copies of an animal. In GE animals, the DNA has been altered to produce a desirable trait.

The AquaAdvantage salmon has an added growth hormone from the Pacific Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce growth hormone all year long. The engineers were able to keep the hormone active by using another gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout that acts like an 'on' switch for the hormone. Typical Atlantic salmon produce the growth hormone for only part of the year.


Method: The AquaAdvantage salmon, seen growing in their facility's tanks, has an added growth hormone from the Pacific Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce growth hormone all year long

It is still unclear whether the public will have an appetite for the fish if it is approved. Genetic engineering is already widely used for crops, but the government until now has not considered allowing the consumption of modified animals. Although the potential benefits – and profits – are huge, many people have qualms about manipulating the genetic code of other living creatures.

If the salmon are eventually approved for sale, consumers may not even know they are eating them. According to federal guidelines, the fish would not be labeled as genetically modified if the agency decides it has the same material makeup as conventional salmon. AquaBounty says that genetically modified salmon have the same flavor, texture, color and odor as the conventional fish, and the FDA so far has not shown any signs of disagreeing.

Wenonah Hauter, director of the advocacy group Food and Water Watch, said forgoing labeling not only ignores consumers' rights to know what they are eating, but 'is simply bad for business, as many will avoid purchasing any salmon for fear it is genetically engineered.'


No change: AquaBounty says that genetically modified salmon have the same flavor, texture, color and odor as the conventional fish, and the FDA so far has not shown any signs of disagreeing

Hauter urged members of Congress to block the impending approval of the fish. Congressional opposition to the engineered fish has so far been led by members of the Alaska delegation, who see the modified salmon as a threat to the state's wild salmon industry.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Friday she is working to convince fellow senators that approval for the fish should be stopped. 'This is especially troubling as the agency is ignoring the opposition by salmon and fishing groups, as well as more than 300 environmental, consumer and health organizations,' she said of the preliminary approval.

Welcome to the money of the future: GOLD

Fancy a chunk? No, it's not chocolate... It's a solid gold bar you can break up (and could be the future of money if there's economic meltdown)

• Swiss refinery marketing gold bar that can be easily broken into 1g chunks to be used as payment in a crisis
• Wealthy individuals in Switzerland, Austria and Germany said to be lining up to buy the gold 'CombiBars'
• Value of gold has gone up more than 500 per cent since 2001

By DAMIEN GAYLE
DAILYMAIL
December 21, 2012

With Christmas coming, sales of chocolate gold coins have no doubt soared as parents get ready to fill their little ones' stockings with edible treasure. But wealthy individuals worried about what the New Year could bring are instead stocking up on gold chocolate bars.

Swiss refinery Valcambi has been selling its CombiBar to private investors in Switzerland, Austria and Germany who are worried about a return of Weimar Republic-style hyperinflation.

 
Gold chocolate bar: An employee divides a gold Combibar at a plant of gold refiner and bar manufacturer Valcambi in the southern Swiss town of Balern. Sales have soared amid economic uncertainty in Europe


Crisis currency: Swiss refinery Valcambi has been selling its CombiBar to private investors in Switzerland, Austria and Germany who are worried about a return of Weimar Republic-style hyperinflation

The size of a credit card, the 50g gold CombiBars are easily be broken into one gram pieces to be used as money in times of crisis. Now the company wants to bring them to market in the U.S. and build up sales in India - the world's largest consumer of gold, where it has long served as a parallel currency.

Investors worried that inflation and financial market turmoil will wipe out the value of their cash have poured money into gold over the past decade. Prices have gained almost 500 per cent since 2001 - compared to a 12 per cent increase in MSCI's world equity index, a benchmark for the value of the world's business investments.

Sales of gold bars and coins were worth almost $77billion in 2011, up from just $3.5billion in 2002, according to data from the World Gold Council.


Stocking filler for the wealthy: The divisible gold bar has a purity of 99.9 percent, weighs 50 grams and also has predetermined breaking points which allow it to be easily separated into 1g pieces without any loss of material

'The rich are buying standard bars or have deposits of physical gold. People that have less money are buying up to 100 grams,' said Michael Mesaric, CEO of Valcambi. 'But for many people a pure investment product is no longer enough. They want to be able to do something with the precious metal.'

Mr Mesaric said the advantage of the CombiBar - dubbed a 'chocolate bar' because pieces can be easily broken off by hand - is that it is easily carried and is cheaper than buying 50 one gram bars. 'The produce can also be used as an alternative method of payment,' he said.

Valcambi, a unit of U.S. mining giant Newmont, is building a sales network in India and plans to launch the CombiBar on the U.S. market next year. In Japan, it wants to focus on CombiBars made of platinum and palladium. In Europe, demand is particularly strong among the Germans, still scarred by post-World War One hyperinflation, when money became all but worthless and it took a wheelbarrow full of notes to buy a loaf of bread.

'Above all, it's people aged between 40 and 70 that are investing in gold bars and coins,' said Mr Mesaric. 'They've heard tales from their parents about wars and crises devaluing money.'
The CombiBar is particularly popular among grandparents who want to give their grandchildren a strip of gold rather than a coin, said Andreas Habluetzel, head of the Swiss business of Degussa, a gold trading company.

'Demand is rising every week,' Mr Habluetzel said. 'Particularly in Germany, people buying gold fear that the euro will break apart or that banks will run into problems.' Stephan Mueller, who manages bank Julius Baer's $6billion gold fund, said one problem with using gold as a method of payment is that people have to take its value on blind trust.

'Gold is a useful store of value,' Mr Mueller said. 'However I doubt whether it will succeed as a method of payment.' Nonetheless, as developments in the euro zone lurch from one crisis to another, demand for gold that can be sold in vending machines is also growing.

'Sales rise according to the temperature of the crisis,' said Thomas Geissler, whose firm Ex Oriente Lux operates 17 gold vending machines in Europe, the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates. The machines saw record sales in 2010, one day after the then Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann raised doubts over whether Greece would be able to pay its debts. Since the launch of the machines, which operate under the name 'GOLD to go', 50,000 customers have withdrawn more than 21million euros in gold. The average buyer is male, over 50 years old and well off.
'
Customers are hoarding gold mostly at home as a precaution against a crisis, just as their fathers and grandfathers did before them,' Mr Geissler said.

Fluoride Sold As Pesticide Used In Your Water Supply !

Fluoride sold as pesticide; Chinese factories export to U.S. cities for water fluoridation
Uploaded 9/17/2012 by HealthRanger (NaturalNews.com)



Fluoride warning! Much of the fluoride dumped into U.S. water is imported from chemical factories in China. Those factories warn that fluoride is TOXIC to human health.

Fluoride is sold as a PESTICIDE, a nuclear industry chemical and more. SCARY information!

Learn the truth about fluoride.

NaturalNews.com
http://tv.naturalnews.com/

An Ancient Egyptian archaeological marvel: 2400 yr old mummy embalming instrument discovered still INSIDE mummy skull

Tool used by ancient Egyptians to remove BRAINS discovered in the skull of a 2,400 year old mummy- after it was LEFT INSIDE by bumbling embalmer

• Scientists were baffled by discovery of object in mummy's brain
• It turned out to be a brain removal tool made out of a bamboo-type plant
• Researchers say this is only the second time a tool of this kind has been found in a mummy's skull

By HARRIET COOKE
DAILYMAIL
December 16, 2012

A brain-removal tool used by ancient Egyptian embalmers was found wedged in the skull of a female mummy after embalmers left it there thousands of years ago. The three-inch object was located in the body of a 40-year-old woman dating back 2,400 years, initially causing bafflement among researchers over what it was. After carrying out CT scans, scientists found the instrument between the left parietal bone and the back of the skull, which had been filled with resin during the mummification.


Analysed: The mummy had a brain removal tool lodged in its skull

Keen to examine the tool, the team used an endoscope - a thin tube often used for noninvasive medical procedures - to detach it from the resin to which it was stuck.

Discovery: Scientists found a bamboo brain
removal tool lodged in skull of the mummy

Embalmers would have inserted it through a hole punched in the skull near to the nose, and used it to liquify and remove the brain.

In an interview with the website LiveScience, Dr Mislav Čavka, of the University Hospital Dubrava in Zagreb Croatia, explained the tool was cut using a clamp through the endoscope.
'Some parts (of the brain) would be wrapped around this stick and pulled out, and the other parts would be liquefied,' Dr Čavka said.

The mummy could then be turned onto its front and the liquid drained through the nose hole.

'It is an error that [the] embalmers left this stick in the skull,' she said.

The mistake made thousands of years ago has helped researchers to understand the ancient embalming process.

The tool was made from plants in the group Monocotyledon, which includes forms of palm and bamboo, which may have been used instead of metal because it was cheaper.

The only other brain-removal stick found inside a mummy's skull dates back 2,200 years and was made from a similar type of material.The details emerged in a report recently published by Dr Mislav Čavka's team in the journal RSNA RadioGraphics.

The mummy is currently in the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb Croatia. It was brought to Croatia in the 19th century without a coffin and it is not known where the woman was from or how she died. It is known that mummification was widely practiced throughout ancient Egyptian civilization, but it was a time-consuming and costly practice.

'Thus, not every­one could afford to perform the same mummifi­cation procedure," the researchers wrote in the article.


Brittle: The tool was in a fragile condition after experts removed it with an endoscope

2012 Doomsday Secrets Revealed: Special Report (Infowars)

Infowars.com
Who is behind the End of the World rumors and why, for decades, has the mainstream media been peddling the 2012 End of the World myth alongside the Mayan calendar’s end?

              
Published on Dec 14, 2012
Mysteries of the Mayan Calendar's predictions for December 21, 2012 uncovered.

Will the face behind the `Mona Lisa` finally be revealed now?

Are we about to find out who was behind the Mona Lisa smile? Skeleton found in Florence believed to be da Vinci's model

• History experts may have found bones of Da Vinci's model Lisa Gherardini at a former convent
• DNA tests will be used to identify the former nun, who was buried at the dig site
• Discovery is a step closer to discovering what is behind the famous smile of the famous painting

By SAM WEBB
DAILYMAIL
December 12, 2012

It remains one of the great mysteries of the art world - what is the secret behind the mysterious smile boasted by the woman in the Mona Lisa, the world's most famous painting?
Now a group of Italian art historians and archaeologists believe they are about to unravel the enigma after discovering what may be the skeleton of the woman who posed for artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Lisa Gherardini, the second wife of wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, is recorded as buried in Saint Ursula convent and, after several false alarms, the team believe they have her remains.


Ancient find: Archeologists have found a skeleton they believe belonged to the model who inspired Da Vinci's Mona Lisa


The convent was the burial site of Lisa Gherardini, wife of the wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, who modelled for Leonardo Da Vinci

Silvano Vinceti, a former TV producer, is leading the team attempting to exhume and identify Gherardini's remains by sending the bones to universities in Italy and abroad, where they will be checked against the DNA of two confirmed relatives of Gherardini.

If it is confirmed the researchers will be able to reconstruct her face.

Speaking to CNN, he said: 'Once we identify the remains we can reconstruct the face, with a margin of error of two to eight per cent. By doing this, we will finally be able to answer the question the art historians can't: Who was the model for Leonardo?'

There has been centuries of debate over the 77 by 52cm (30 by 31 inches) picture, also know as 'La Gioconda'. Most modern historians agree that the lady depicted in the Mona Lisa was Lisa del Giocondo, who became a nun after her husband's death. She died in the convent on July 15, 1542, aged 63. However, Vinceti is not certain whether the painting that now hangs in the Louvre in Paris is of her. He added: 'When Leonardo began painting the model in front of him, he did not draw that metaphysical, ironic, poignant, elusive smile, but rather he painted a person who was dark and depressed.'

He believes the famous smile was added later and may belong to da Vinci's longtime assistant Gian Giacomo Caprotti, also rumoured to have been his lover.


The team unearthed a skull and other bones last year that they believe belonged to Lisa Gherardini

Other art historians say the 'Mona Lisa' is actually a sneaky self-portrait. An archeological team began digging at the abandoned Convent of Saint Ursula last year.
They first had to dig through thick concrete, laid down ahead of plans to turn the convent into an army barracks.

But they quickly struck gold, finding a crypt they believe to have been Lisa's final resting place and soon after they unearthed a female-sized human skull. The skull was found five feet under the convent's original floor along with other fragments of human ribs and vertebrae.
Plans to continue the dig were suspended when the team ran out of funds, but they were able to resume earlier this year and found the skeleton.

Archeologist Silvano Vinceti, who is in charge of the dig, explained: 'We don't know yet if the bones belong to one single skeleton or more than one. 'But this confirms our hypothesis that in St.Ursula convent there are still human bones and we cannot exclude that among them there are bones belonging to Lisa Gherardini.' Several skeletons have been discovered but the group believe the latest find is the one they have been looking for.

The initial discovery - made using ground penetrating radar and ancient maps and documents - came after a foot of modern concrete was removed and unearthed a layer of ancient, 90-centimetre wide bricks. Professor Vinceti said of the first discovery: 'This is a very exciting development and the find is consistent with our records and our preliminary research.
'The crypt we have found is the one that was mentioned in church records from 1495 and was reached via a grate and then a staircase.

'We also know from those records that in 1625 there was a second crypt and these are the ones we have found.'


Resting place: The courtyard of the Saint Ursula convent in Florence, where archaeologists have been digging

Present on the dig is Natalia Gucciardini Strozzi, who is related to Lisa Gherardini and who is also a close friend of Prince Charles and former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Speaking after the skull was discovered, she said: 'It was so emotional being here - I didn't think I would get so emotional. I am certain that this is the final resting place of Lisa Gherardini.'
It is not the first time that Professor Vinceti has used such techniques in his work. Last year similar methods were used to locate and identify the remains of Caravaggio, another Renaissance master.

In a Dan Brown-style mystery, Professor Vincenti also claimed that a hidden message could be seen in the eyes of the Mona Lisa after examining them with a high powered magnifying glass.
The Mona Lisa is an oil on panel painting owned by the French government and the image is so widely recognised and caricatured that it is considered the most famous painting in the world.

Da Vinci started to paint it in 1503 or 1504 and finished it in 1519, shortly before his death, and after he had moved to France.

Pharaonic rule traced back to 5,000 years ago in stunning discovery in Southern Egypt

'The beginning of history': Oldest known depictions of a Pharaoh dating back more than 5,000 years found in southern Egypt

• Carvings on rock faces are the earliest indication of royal power in Egypt
• They show Pharaoh riding boats in what is thought to be tax-collecting tour
• First found in the 1890s, they were rediscovered in 2008 and have just been described in a scientific journal for the first time

By DAMIEN GAYLE
DAILYMAIL
December 12, 2012

The oldest known representations of a Pharaoh dating back as far as 3200BC have been found carved on rocks near the Nile River in southern Egypt, a new study claims.

Researchers say the engravings on rock faces in the desert four miles north of the Aswan Dam are the earliest found indication of royal power in the country.

The images of a Pharaoh riding boats with attendant prisoners and animals offer a window on Dynasty 0, they say, and show the moment pre-Dynastic Egypt was first captured by the rule of a single monarch.


The royal boat procession: This image, heavily damaged in recent times, shows the earliest known image of a ruler wearing the 'White Crown', one of the earliest symbols of Egyptian dynastic power


Traced: The researchers copy of the carving shows the detail of the picture more clearly

'It's really the end of pre-history and the beginning of history,' study researcher Maria Gatto, of Yale University, told LiveScience.

Researchers found seven carvings around the area, many of which are tableaux of boats flanked by prisoners.

On of the most extensive shows the earliest known image of a ruler wearing the 'White Crown', one of the earliest symbols of Egyptian dynastic power, as he travels in ceremonial processions and on sickle-shaped boats.

Falcon and bull insignia on the Pharaoh's boat indicate royalty, which is emphasized by by the four men standing alongside it holding ropes - most likely to tow it along the Nile.

The cycle of images is said to be the first with hieroglyphic annotation, with one on this particular scene labeling it a 'nautical following'.

This the researchers say, is likely related to the royal and ritual event known as the 'Following of Horus', a biennial tax-collection tour made by the royal court to stamp its authority on the country.


Symbolism: These are animal representations, with mythological animals on the right


The same picture as it appears after being traced by the researchers


A general view of both tableaux: The site was discovered in the southern Egyptian desert, 4km north of the Aswan High Dam

Other carvings include pastoral scenes of cattle herding and a cluster of animals, two of which appear to be mythical part-lion creatures.

'The theme of catching and bringing up wild animals is most important for pre-Dynastic times,' the researchers said.

'Although archaeozoological studies show that hunting was only of marginal economic importance during pre-Dynastic times hunting was part of the elite lifestyle, and slaughtering wild animals on the occasion of religious festivals or elite burials allowed the upper echelons of society to show their importance in real life.'

Other animals shown are familiar native African species, including ostriches, an ibex and a bull - the latter of which is shown 'dominating' the animals around it and is said to be a royal symbol.

Another tableau shows people brewing and drinking beer, perhaps in reference to some kind of festival.


This carving shows a boat with three men, probably prisoners, behind and slightly below the stern: Researchers found seven carvings around the area, many of which are tableaux of boats flanked by prisoners

First recorded in the 1890s by the archaeologist Archibald Sayce, the carvings were lost to Egyptologists until the Sixties, when Egyptian archaeologist Labib Habachi found and photographed them, but never published his work.

It was after seeing one of these pictures that Ms Gatto led a team of international researchers that rediscovered them in 2008, despite fears they had been destroyed in the interim

The study published in the most recent issue of Antiquity is the first to offer a detailed description of the carvings.

Ms Gatto told LiveScience that the style of the carvings and the kinds of hieroglyphics dated the images to between 3200BC and 3100BC, around the time of the reign of Narmer who was the first Pharaoh to unify Upper and Lower Egypt.

'It seems that for Narmer it was important first to settle the situation in the South, to control the South, and then apparently move to the North, and at that time he unified Egypt and we have the first dynasty,' she said.

Read more:
Oldest Pharaoh Carvings Discovered in Egypt | LiveScience

The despicable men who prey on the hopeless children in Bangladesh

Mutilated by gang who set out to maim him so he'd earn more as a beggar, the seven-year-old boy whose story is all too common in Bangladesh

• The young child was surrounded by four men in Bangladesh who tied him up, and cracked open his head with a brick
• Sliced his chest and belly in an upside down cross and chopped off his penis
• Attack said to be retaliation for argument his father had with one of the men
• 'Beggar mafia' is becoming more common in South Asian countries
• Shown in the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire, in which a child in Mumbai, India, is intentionally blinded so he could bring in more money

DAILYMAIL
By JILL REILLY

A seven-year-old boy was grabbed from the street by strangers to maim him so he would elicit more sympathy working for them as a beggar. But when he recognized the men from his area and told them he would report them to his father, they decided to torture him, cutting off his penis and leaving him for dead on the streets of Bangladesh.

SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW THE VIDEO

In some South Asian countries, the prevalence of 'beggar mafias' is becoming increasingly common.


Butchered: The seven-year-old's attackers drew ab upside down cross on his chest as well as slitting his throat

The practice was portrayed in the 2008 movie Slumdog Millionaire, in which a child in Mumbai, India, is intentionally blinded so he could bring in more money.

The tragic story was uncovered by CNN's Freedom Project - they named the child, who can not be identified, as Okkhoy, the Bengali word for 'unbreakable.' The horrific attack on Okkhoy unfolded in late 2010, just a few days before the Muslim festival of Eid, when three local children lured the trusting child out of his home with the promise of a lolly.


Brutal: One of the attackers grabbed a brick and Okkhoy lost consciousness after he was struck over the head

It was then a group of neighborhood men grabbed him and pulled him into an alley, binding his hands and feet. 'They tied me up and told me they'd force me to beg,' said Okkhoy.
But their hope to maim Okkhoy turned into a plan to kill him after he told the men that he recognised them and he would tell his father. One of the attackers grabbed a brick and Okkhoy lost consciousness after he was struck over the head. They then set about carving up his body, slashing his throat and slicing his chest and belly in an upside down cross.


Butchered: Okkhoy nearly died from blood-loss after his attackers slit his throat and left him for dead

In a final brutal act, his attackers chopped off his penis and his right testicle. Okkhoy was dumped by the side of a warehouse - his attackers intended to come back later and dump him in the river. But his mother, who had gone looking for her missing child, stumbled across his blood-soaked body.'

I barely recognized him; he was so stained with blood,' shes said. She carried her young son's body to the side of the main road where she was met by Okkhoy's father Abed, who had been alerted by a neighbor. 'It felt like the sky fell on me,' he said.

'As a father, there is no greater pain in the world than knowing that you could not protect your child.' Okkhoy spent three months in a Dhaka hospital, but doctors were unable to do much to repair the severed organ. Abed reported the attack to police, but was shocked to discover it had already been covered and the police would not investigate. A man, who pretended to be Okkhoy's uncle, had told police that his nephew was attacked by two boys in a playground spat.

A judge also refused to help, but by sheer coincidence human rights lawyer, Alena Khan was in the courthouse and felt compelled to publicize the horrifying case.

As the founder of Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation, she contacted a local television station and the story garnered so much publicity the high court was forced to ask authorities to launch an inquiry. Within days, the Rapid Action Battalion rounded up five suspects and charged them with attempted murder. 'The boy started arguing with us and I hit him on his head with a brick,' said one of the men in a televised confession.

'After I hit him on the head, he fell to the ground. Then (one of the men) said to cut off his penis, and I cut it off. After that, (someone else) cut his chest and belly. Then (a third person) held his head and slit his throat,' he said.


Philanthropy: U.S. businessman Aram Kovach, from Ohio, heard the story on CNN and decided to fund a trip for Okkoy and his family to travel to America for treatment

At the trial, according to prosecutors, it emerged that the gang maimed at least five other children to get money for begging. The gang kept the children confined for months in tight spaces or even in barrels and deprived them of food and then send them out to beg, according to one of the men who confessed. Okkhoy's father believes the attack was payback after he had a confrontation with one of the men at a tea stall. Authorities continue to look for four others who they claim are part of the same 'beggar mafia' gang.

To ensure Okkhoy and his family stay safe, they were placed in a battalion compound, but his father remained concerned about his son's ability to father children.


Publicised: The practice was portrayed in the 2008 movie Slumdog Millionaire, in which a child in Mumbai, India, is intentionally blinded so he could bring in more money

But then U.S. businessman Aram Kovach, from Ohio, heard the story on CNN and decided to fund a trip for Okkhoy and his family to travel to America for treatment. John Gearhart, the director of pediatric urology at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, Maryland decided to waive his fee and help Okhkoy.

Although the surgeons were initially concerned they would not be able to reconstruct Okkhoy's genitalia, they found it was less-damaged than originally thought on the operating table.
They were to move the urethra - the tube used for urination - to the tip of Okkhoy's penis, so he would no longer have to urinate through a tiny hole the doctors in Bangladesh had created.
And his father's concerns about having grandchildren was abated after Redett's team used skin from Okkhoy's thigh for the shaft of the penis and tissue from his inner cheek lining to create the tip.

The success of the operation means that Okkhoy will be able to have sensation and the organ will continue to grow as Okkhoy gets older. Now Okkhoy's ambition for the future is to become a doctor and help other people who have been inured.

A CNN Freedom Project documentary, ‘Operation Hope’ can be seen on CNN International