Assisted Suicide Heralds a Culture of Despair
It is ironic that many people who oppose capital punishment, war and other state-sanctioned violence support euthanasia. Their ethic inevitably falls back on 'choice' and 'autonomy' as its ultimate visions of moral good. Never mind that these two things will inevitably be taken from us. The shape of our final days, months or even years are inexplicably valuable. They have the potential to enrich others' lives in ways we can't anticipate.
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33 minutes ago
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Palm Beach physician pioneering new advances in ALS and inflammatory disease treatment
A Palm Beach physician-scientist is leading efforts to create breakthrough treatments for Parkinson's, ALS, Alzheimer's and other diseases through a biotech company she established nearly a decade ago. Dr. Simrit Parmar, a Northwestern University-trained oncologist and research scientist, launched Cellenkos Inc., in 2016 to accelerate the clinical development of "T regulatory cell" therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and inflammatory disorders. T regulatory cells, or Tregs (pronounced tee-regs), are natural immune system regulator cells that suppress the activity of other immune cells to prevent excessive inflammation and autoimmune reactions. Before launching Cellenkos, Parmar conducted extensive research on these cells and developed therapies based on them. While working as an oncologist/hematologist in the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy at the University of Texas's MD Anderson Cancer in Houston in 2009, she developed treatments using T regulatory cells derived from umbilical cord blood to help prevent graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a complication that can occur after an allogeneic stem cell or bone marrow transplant. Parmar told the Daily News it was 'very discouraging' to watch patients die from GVHD, which motivated her to focus her research on controlling the inflammation caused by donor cells, starting with the discovery of T regulatory cells. As she continued to conduct her research, she discovered that these cells had uses beyond preventing GVHD. "We found that the application of these cells is beyond just that one niche," she told the Daily News. "It can be applied to any autoimmune disease, to any inflammatory disorder." In 2016, the cell technology Parmar developed at MD Anderson was licensed to Cellenkos, which now supports her ongoing research through a sponsored research agreement. Since then, Parmar has focused on her work advancing targeted Treg cell therapies designed to ease inflammation and regulate immune function. Cellenkos is currently in clinical trials for various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including ALS, bone marrow failure, severe COVID-19 and myelofibrosis. Results have been positive so far, Parmar said, noting that ALS patients have seen a delay in disease progression and functional decline and an improvement in quality of life. "We have made some great strides in neurodegenerative disease," she said. "We just published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine Evidence on ALS, where we showed not only disease halting, but slight improvement in resolving inflammation. That research has applications beyond just ALS. We are hoping as we are garnering more funding, we can go after Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis." Inflammation is the root cause of many diseases including cardiac, respiratory, neurological and hematological disorders, Parmar said, and it also drives many autoimmune diseases. Parmar's cell therapies restore immune balance by targeting harmful T cells — a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes — that can mistakenly attack healthy cells in the body, and retraining the body's own defense mechanisms. "We have a drug that heals inside out," she said. "We believe that we neutralize the bad player, which may not have initiated the inflammation, but definitely plays a key role in the propagation of widespread inflammation." Parmar, a mother of three who lives in Palm Beach's North End and travels regularly to Houston, where Cellenkos is based, said she remains committed to developing cell therapies targeting a broad range of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Cellenkos is pursuing funding for larger ALS research studies in the U.S., and it is also preparing for the next phase of clinical trials required for federal Food and Drug Administration approval. Parmar said she sees Palm Beach County's emergence as a neuroscience hub as a key benefit of her move, and she hopes it will lead to new research, development, and partnership opportunities. "We're incredibly excited about the momentum building in the Palm Beach and Jupiter area around neuroscience innovation," she said. "With new opportunities for R&D collaboration in the region, it presents an ideal environment for us to expand. We see great potential not only to develop a manufacturing facility for neurological compounds … but also to establish a dedicated treatment center that brings these breakthroughs directly to patients.' Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach physician-scientist pioneering groundbreaking ALS therapy
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33 minutes ago
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Whoa—Scientists Found a Part of Human Cells We Never Knew Existed
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Hemifusomes are fused vesicles, or sacs of fluid, that were previously unknown to exist inside cells. They were discovered using cryo-electron tomography, which literally freezes them in time, and confirmed to be actual organelles and not just background noise. Because hemifusomes collect and recycle junk proteins, they could mean more effective treatments for diseases caused and aggravated by protein plaque buildup, such as Alzheimer's. Back in high school biology, most of us learned about the innards of a cell, or its organelles, from ribosomes to mitochondria to the endoplasmic reticulum, and probably had to identify them on our midterms. Now, an unexpected discovery will probably soon rewrite those textbooks. The hemifusome is the new organelle that high school students (much to their chagrin) will have to remember. Biophysicist Seham Ebrahim of the University of Virginia and her team of researchers were observing mammalian cells when they discovered hemifusomes, which previously eluded detection because they are even smaller than mitochondria and can easily blur or be mistaken for background noise. These nano-orbs, which look like they have, noses bear an uncanny resemblance to BB-8 or the profiles of certain Muppets. Pop culture references aside, their function of organizing, cleaning up, and recycling proteins could potentially unlock new treatments for genetic and neurodegenerative diseases. Hemifusomes consist of two vesicles, which are membrane sacs filled with liquid and formed by hemifusion, meaning that the smaller of the two is fused to the larger one like a hemisphere, almost as if its other half is missing. This occurs when the outer layers of two membranes merge first while the inner membrane layers stay open until a thin connection between them forms a new vesicle. The attached vesicles are sometimes found on the outside of the organelle and sometimes on the inside, and though where exactly these vesicles originate is still unknown, hemifusomes are thought to facilitate the formation of new vesicles that transport materials throughout the cell. This is probably how they take out cellular trash. Ebrahim used cryo-electron tomography, or cryo-ET, to observe and image hemifusomes. The cells, which were kept at cryogenic temperatures, were imaged in two dimensions using an electron microscope. Superfast cameras then took multiple photos of the frozen cells and their organelles. From these photos, single images were created using algorithms, upgrading the 2D images to 3D. 'Our observation of hemifusomes in four different cell lines originating from various species and tissues and frozen as close as possible to their native state suggests that they may be common components of the cell periphery in a wide range of cells and tissues,' she said in a study recently published in Nature Communications. Something else the researchers wanted to explore was what kind of relationship hemifusomes had with endosomes, which are vesicles that transport extracellular material into the cell via the process of endocytosis. The cell's plasma membrane will fold inward to surround matter, such as food molecules, in the surrounding fluid. These molecules are then taken in by the cell, whose plasma membrane pinches off to create an endosome that carries them into the cytoplasm. Endosomes can also form through the fusion of vesicles that already exist within the cell. Ebrahim traced the activity of endosomes and hemifusomes, but they did not appear to work together. What makes hemifusomes so important is how they collect and recycle junk proteins. Many studies have shown that the buildup of protein plaque in the brain can cause and aggravate neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's, and more understanding about how these organelles operate could lead to the development of treatments that work with them. 'Future research should focus on determining whether hemifusomes and compound hemifusomes are present in other cellular regions,' Ebrahim said, 'and on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying their formation, stability, and function, as well as their broader implications for cellular physiology and pathology.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
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34 minutes ago
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I traded my career in London for a flexible life on the French Riviera. Two kids and 8 years later, I have no regrets.
My husband and I made the decision to leave life in London behind for the French Riviera. I love raising bilingual, French-born kids, and I have no regrets about our choice. That said, I didn't anticipate how difficult it would be to move away from our extended family. One balmy holiday evening in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, my husband and I shared a bottle of rosé by the lighthouse. Somewhere between the first sip and the last, we made a decision: to swap London's gray skies and my established TV career for the endless blue of the French Riviera and the great unknown. Ten years after that life-changing night — and eight years after we packed our bags for real — I have two bilingual, French-born children, a more flexible freelance career, and a life I never quite imagined. Now, I can confirm: Sometimes the best decisions really are made on rosé. In France, we can ski in the morning and paddleboard in the afternoon. It's all possible on the Côte d'Azur, where the Alps are less than a two-hour drive from the Mediterranean. I love the easy access to these stunning landscapes, and as a parent, I deeply appreciate the year-round opportunities my children have to explore and enjoy the great outdoors. Often run by excellent instructors (many of them former ski pros themselves), ski schools are an affordable and enjoyable way for people of all ages to learn. In France, some let children as young as 3 years old take lessons. I even gave skiing a try as a complete beginner — though, needless to say, the kids have already surpassed me. I've been really impressed by France's healthcare system. I've found healthcare in France to be a major game changer. The system is subsidized by the government and topped up by affordable health insurance. In particular, I've found the country's attention to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care to be world-class. Specifically, in France, postpartum women receive at least 10 free sessions of pelvic floor and abdominal rehab with a specialized physiotherapist — an experience that really made a difference as I recovered from two Cesarean births. In the UK (and also the US, for that matter), these sessions would have cost me money out of pocket. Raising kids here has felt rewarding. I have two bilingual bébés, which is a rewarding experience — and sometimes a humbling one, when my 4-year-old corrects my French pronunciation. At first, I worried about confusing my kids. I was concerned they'd feel like they didn't quite belong in either the place they were born or the place their parents call home. As it turns out, this shouldn't have been a concern. I've been amazed watching them pick up two languages, and I love our bedtime tradition of reading their favorite books in both French and English. On the other side of the coin, it's been hard living away from our support system. While we love raising our petites Francophones, parenting small children far from family is challenging in a way I didn't expect. There is no safety net, emergency support, or free babysitting. There are no playdates with fun cousins — and FaceTime calls aren't exactly the same as in-person playdates. Without close relatives nearby, my husband and I have felt "on" as parents all the time. Over the past five years, we've only spent 48 hours alone without the kids. Although we're lucky in so many ways, we're still waiting for that famous village to show up and give us a hand. (Especially on Wednesdays when, for some reason, most schools in France are closed.) Still, we have no regrets about moving here. I first visited France when I was 5 years old, in a car packed to the sunroof with camping paraphernalia — and ever since then, I've been hooked. I've loved France all my life, and I will always be glad that we asked ourselves the question: "What are the things that make us happy, and where can we do more of them?" The answer was here, and what an adventure it has been so far. Read the original article on Business Insider
