Latest news with #Cambridge
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'I pray my mother burns in hell': These words seem unthinkable from a son. But read the unfathomable things 'abusive monster' Kate did to his beautiful cancer-struck sister before you judge his anguish
Just days before she lost her young life to cancer, 23-year-old Paloma Shemirani turned to social media to showcase the healthy foods and sweat therapies she believed were curing her. Having turned down the chemotherapy which offered a high chance of surviving her non-Hodgkin lymphoma, this beautiful, brilliant Cambridge graduate had embraced a 'natural' regime of juices, coffee enemas and saunas – all carefully administered at home by her mother, Britain's most notorious conspiracy theorist Kate Shemirani.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Solar-Powered Slug Steals Chloroplasts and Stores Them for Emergency Food
'Solar-powered' sea slugs have specialized depots in their cells that store photosynthetic equipment looted from algae, a study reports. These depots provide just the right chemical environment to keep the stolen apparatus, called chloroplasts, alive and working to turn sunlight into nutrients. 'It was the wildest thing that we had seen,' says study co-author Nicholas Bellono, a biologist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The authors also found that, in lean times, the slugs can raid these compartments to consume chloroplasts. The compartment 'is basically like a moving refrigerator of chloroplasts where, after a period of starvation, the slugs can switch from storage to consumption to survive', Bellono says. [Sign up for Today in Science, a free daily newsletter] The findings were published in Cell. Scientists discovered decades ago that certain species of sea slug store chloroplasts from the algae they eat, a diet that can turn the slugs bright green. But no one understood how the slugs keep these foreign organelles alive without the support of the rest of the algal cell. Bellono and his team added chemical tags to proteins newly made by the slugs' own cells. They found that most of the proteins in a slug's chloroplasts were made by the slug — not by the original algae. That meant the slug was helping to maintain the chloroplasts. When the scientists looked at the chloroplasts under a microscope, they found that the organelles were housed in special compartments in the slugs' guts. Each compartment was surrounded by a membrane that tested positive for markers typically found in cellular structures called phagosomes, which fuse with other structures called lysomes to digest unneeded organelles. The researchers named this structure the kleptosome, after a Greek word that means to steal. The team also found that these organelles contained ion channels — receptors that convert chemical messages into electrical signals. Among them is one called P2X4, which opens in response to the presence of ATP, an energy-carrying molecule produced during photosynthesis. When Bellono and his team blocked this channel in slugs' kleptosomes, oxygen production from photosynthesis dropped, showing that the kleptosome is actively involved in keeping the chloroplasts functioning. Having discovered the existence of the kleptosome, the researchers wondered whether it helps the slugs to resist starvation. They compared the solar-powered slug Elysia crispata with Aplysia californica, a non-photosynthetic slug that lacks kleptosomes. Aplysia died after three to four weeks without food, whereas Elysia could survive for up to four months. Yet, after four weeks, the Elysia slugs lost their green colour, turned orange — just as leaves do in autumn — and stopped photosynthesizing. Microscopy revealed that the Elysia's kleptosomes had begun fusing with lysosomes and that the colour change was caused by the degradation of the chloroplast. The study is 'remarkable,' says cell biologist Elena Oancea at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Studying the molecular and cellular processes of creatures as small as sea slugs is extremely challenging, she says. 'It takes a lot of courage to do that.' The discovery of the kleptosome could help to answer broader questions about organelle evolution and other cellular processes that we don't understand yet, Oancea says. All life is built on cells, she adds: 'It's the basic principle of nature.' This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on June 25, 2025.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Vor, with new CEO, changes course to target autoimmune disease
This story was originally published on BioPharma Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily BioPharma Dive newsletter. Vor Biopharma is licensing rights to an immune disease drug from Chinese biotechnology company RemeGen, it said Wednesday, a little over one month after announcing plans to review strategic alternatives. As part of its shift in focus, Vor also announced it appointed former MorphoSys leader Jean-Paul Kress as CEO. Vor's previous chief executive Robert Ang will stay on as an adviser through October. Vor also raised $175 million in a PIPE, or private investment in public equity, that involved half a dozen investors including RA Capital Management, Forbion and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners. PureTech Health and the oncologist and author Siddhartha Mukherjee founded Vor nearly a decade ago. Progress developing a treatment for leukemia led the company in 2021 to price a $177 million initial public offering. But a rocky few years forced Vor to change direction. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech had been advancing cell therapies called trem-cel and VCAR33, but in May revealed plans to wind down clinical operations and lay off 95% of its employees. Now, Vor is reestablishing itself as an autoimmune disease company. The deal with RemeGen gives its rights to develop and commercialize in most parts of the world a drug for generalized myasthenia gravis, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis that's already approved in China. Vor is paying RemeGene $45 million upfront along with $80 million in warrants to purchase common stock in exchange for the drug, called telitacicept. Telitacicept is in Phase 3 testing for generalized myasthenia gravis in the U.S., Europe and South America, according to the companies. Data from that trial is expected in 2027. 'I am absolutely thrilled to be leading Vor Bio as we transform the company to become a major player in autoimmune disease treatment,' Kress said in a statement. Telitacicept's targets are cytokines known as BAFF and APRIL, which have also been the focus of other dealmaking. Recently, China-based biotechs like RemeGen are providing more and more of the drug candidates licensed by U.S. and European drugmakers. 'Global biopharma companies can increasingly look to China as a cost-effective source of innovation, particularly for validated targets and rapid generation of proof-of-concept data,' Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger wrote in a Thursday note to clients. Vor's decision to start anew with a Phase 3-ready drug candidate contrasts with the route preferred by some activist investors and analysts, who have pushed struggling biotechs to wind down and return cash to shareholders rather than try to reinvent themselves. Some, like Third Harmonic Bio and iTeos Therapeutics, have taken this course, while others have resisted the pressure 'I couldn't be more thrilled with this exciting new direction for Vor, and new leadership with the background and skills appropriate for this asset,' Ang, Vor's former CEO, wrote in a LinkedIn post. Shares in Vor nearly doubled on the news to trade around $1 apiece by Thursday afternoon. Recommended Reading Biopharma sector still growing despite layoff wave, Stifel report finds
BBC News
15 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Century-old trees in Cambridge saved for second time
Three trees that have been described as "amongst the most glorious in Cambridge" have for a second time been saved from being chopped City Council has refused to grant permission to fell three London plane trees at St Matthew's application to chop the trees down had been put forward by the insurance company for a residential property in Sturton Street, due to concerns about the trees causing subsidence at the objectors questioned whether they were actually causing ongoing damage to the property and urged councillors not to allow the 125-year-old trees to be cut down. Three previous applications have been made in relation to the three trees in recent told councillors at a planning committee meeting on Wednesday that the latest application to cut down the trees did not provide any additional information about the damage to the officers said they were satisfied from the evidence they had that there was a "causal link between the damage to the building and the trees".Officers explained that if the city council refused permission to cut down the trees it could face a compensation claim and might have to pay for underpinning work to the added that information provided by the applicant claimed the cost of this work had increased from when previous applications were submitted, to £306, said the value of the trees was "undisputed", but that councillors needed to balance this value with the risk of facing a possible compensation claim.A number of objectors came to the meeting to urge the city council not to allow the trees to be cut group Friends of St Matthew's Piece questioned whether the trees were actually causing ongoing damage to the presented councillors with a new structural engineer's report, which they said did not show a link between the trees and cracking in the planning committee agreed unanimously to refuse the application to cut the three trees down. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Independent
16 hours ago
- Climate
- The Independent
Why does London get so hot?
Another heatwave is forecast with weekend temperatures in the south of England set to soar to as high as 30C degrees on Sunday. Then, on Monday, the Met Office has predicted temperatures could reach a sweltering 34C degrees in London. Met Office spokesman Graham Madge said: 'Temperature models have been edging up slowly and we do believe that the temperatures will be the hottest on Monday in this heatwave period.' He added that it is 'most likely be an isolated temperature somewhere in the South East, London or maybe Cambridge.' It could mean the country could see its hottest June day, with the previous record standing at 35.6C, recorded at both at Southampton Mayflower Park on June 28 1976 and at Camden Square, north London, on June 29 1957. So, why does it get so hot in the capital? And is there a reason London heat feels so much more unbearable? Lack of air conditioning Unlike other countries around the world that experience temperatures above 30C degrees, most houses in the UK are not fortunate enough to have air conditioning to escape the heat. While there are air-conditioned shops and offices in London, not all public transport has the luxury – resulting in some very sticky commutes. However, although air-conditioning in city centre shops offer some relief, waste heat from air conditioners and vehicles can add warmth to the surroundings, increasing temperatures. Buildings are designed for cold weather For most of the year, weather in the UK is not baking sunshine, but instead a chillier climate, as a result houses are designed to keep the heat in. The country focuses on making homes insulated to reduce energy usage and retain heat in winter, but that means it can get very hot in the summer. Dr Oscar Brousse, an expert in Urban Meteorology at University College London, told the Independent: 'Buildings absorb heat efficiently because of their radiative and thermal properties induced by the common materials we use to build them.' She added: 'These properties can be changed, by implementing green or cool roofs, for example.' Concentration of people in urban areas The urban heat island effect is another phenomenon that occurs with a dense population. 'Living in a city can increase vulnerability to heat. Many deaths during heatwaves occur because of the combined effect of high temperatures and the urban micro-climate,' the Met Office has warned previously. Buildings absorb rather than reflect the sun's heat, the forecaster explained. Dr Brousse added: 'Buildings also release heat really efficiently and can cool down quickly. 'The issue in urban environments is that this heat is then radiated back to surrounding buildings, therefore delaying the cooling process and leading to the so-called 'urban heat island effect', particularly pronounced in the early morning just before sunrise; the coolest hours of the day.' In cities like London, tall buildings and narrow streets reduce wind speeds, and the removal of trees reduces the natural cooling effect of shading and evaporation, the Met Office said. Air pollution Pollution from car fumes and planes overhead not only decreases air quality but also increase heat by trapping it in. 'Air pollution can also cause the effect of a micro greenhouse gas layer, stopping heat from radiating back into the atmosphere,' the Met Office said. Dr Brousse said: 'Certain aerosols may indeed impact incoming solar radiation, in particular, and reflect back part of the incoming energy, thus having a protective effect. 'It can also contribute to increase cloud coverage which have important implications on heating/cooling of land during day/night.' London's location The record-breaking temperatures are often recorded in London and Kent - which are the furthest South and East parts of the British Isles. Dr Brousse explained that heatwaves tend to come from southern and eastern continental climates. He said: 'As they progress further North, they lose energy, thereby making Southerner parts hotter relatively speaking. 'All of this contributes to hotter temperatures on average in the southeast of England. On top of this, London observes a pronounced urban heat island which further increases the average temperatures experienced in the city.'
