# Gene Therapy Is Giving Blind People Their Sight Back + The UK Bans Smoking Forever and Solar Power From Space

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-could-go-right-4120319/gene-therapy-is-giving-blind-people-their-sight-back-the-uk-bans-smoking-forever-and-solar-power-from-space
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-could-go-right-4120319/gene-therapy-is-giving-blind-people-their-sight-back-the-uk-bans-smoking-forever-and-solar-power-from-space.md
Podcast: [What Could Go Right?](https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-could-go-right-4120319)
Published: 2026-05-11T06:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/WRGRS8403984040.mp3?updated=1778295539
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/WRGRS8403984040.mp3?updated=1778295539
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Duration seconds: 672

## Resource

Gene therapy has been quietly pulling off miracles, and this week, it got its Oscars moment. Emma Varvaloucas, Executive Director of The Progress Network, breaks down how a husband-and-wife scientific team's decades-long quest has restored sight to over 100 blind Americans, and how a brand-new drug called Otarmeni just became the first-ever FDA-approved gene therapy for genetic deafness. The science is extraordinary. The price tags, less so.Plus: The United Kingdom passes a genuinely radical generational ban on smoking; the US Senate unanimously bans members and staffers from betting on prediction markets, after some were caught betting on their own races; and Meta inks a deal to beam solar power down from space.What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and Kaleidoscope.For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.orgSubscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://theprogressnetwork.org/newsletter/Watch the podcast on YouTube: / theprogressnetworkFollow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok: @progressntwrkFollow Emma on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyemmavarv/

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