For the last several years, buildings across the globe are lighting themselves up in green on July 22 to raise awareness about a rare genetic disorder called fragile x syndrome (FXS). It causes a mutation in the gene required for proper brain development, which has been linked with several intellectual disabilities.
This year, more than 21 prominent structures in India including The Taj Mahal Tower in Mumbai, City Centre Salt Lake and City Centre New Town in Kolkata, the Woodrose Club, Augusta Club and MLR convention centre in Bangalore, Fortune Pandiyan Hotel in Madurai, Ahmedabad One Mall, Rameswaram Daiwik Hotel, Devi Ratn Taj Jaipur, Blue Diamond in Pune and Planet Godrej residential towers in Mumbai took part in the awareness drive taken up by Fragile X Society India.
In one of her video posts on her social media, chairperson of the society Shalini Kedia says, “Awareness is the most important step, more than diagnosis and treatment. In the absence of awareness, the other things cannot happen, while appealing to everyone to help spread awareness about the condition.
In an ANI report, she was quoted as saying, “I am personally very touched by a gesture of a parent who has two small restaurants on the Jaipur highway and will be lighting them up.”
Actor Boman Irani also lent his support to the cause in a video that he shared on social media. The caption included these words: “Being an inherited condition, it often passes through generations silently; and this our attempt to create awareness for this lesser-known rare genetic condition.”
The gene related to FXS is called fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) is a relatively recent discovery as it was identified only in the 1990s. It is responsible for the production of a protein whose absence is known to be the cause of intellectual disabilities including autism. An estimate says that at least 4,00,000 Indians have FXS.
