A healthcare worker checks the temperature of residents of a slum area during a check-up campaign for COVID-19, Mumbai, July 6, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Francis Mascarenhas/Files.

A number of incidents in the history of health and medical science, from the Nuremberg doctors trials and the Tuskegee experiments to contested clinical trials and therapeutic regimes, have expanded and refined our approach to handling the complexities of health and medical research. And as we broaden our idea of what it means to be human, we gain a deeper understanding of the nature of our interconnected lives, as also the sense of what is ethical and just.

Ethics is a multidisciplinary field, and its standards, like science, are shaped by the emerging evidence, said Amar Jesani, editor of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics and a member of many consultative bodies on bioethics. That is why ethics guidelines evolve; they are not pre-fixed.

Every advancement in medicine brings a new set of ethical dilemmas, while a changing world forces us to confront newer challenges. The invention of ventilators pushed us to think about end-of-life decisions and the definition of brain death. The outbreak of cholera in a congested city nudged us to reconsider urban planning. The discovery of vaccines has been accompanied by concerns of safety and disclosure during clinical trials, and acceptability, accessibility and affordability.

Over the years, changing ideas of fairness and equity have been codified into various foundational documents that have generated the guiding principles of biomedical research and health practice. The Belmont report in 1979 laid down the principles of respect for persons, beneficence 1 and justice, particularly in relation to vulnerable groups.

In India, activists also contributed to the growth of bioethics by raising questions about research that was not done for instance, in the wake of the Bhopal gas tragedy, Anant Bhan, a bioethics and global health policy researcher and former president of the International Association of Bioethics, said. Since the 1990s, we have been asking questions about who sets the research agenda, the ways in which drug trials are approved and conducted, and questioning global pharmaceutical patent regimes.

According to Bhan, public health crises like the one we are now facing raise new ethical dilemmas that prompt multilateral bodies, including the WHO, and national bodies that govern public health and research to reformulate guidelines. But the guidelines often dont cover many issues in between the silos of medical practice, clinical research and public health not to speak of numerous allied activities that the state governs.

Where is our talisman?

The COVID-19 pandemic was preceded by a chain of public health emergencies, including epidemics in 2002, 2009, 2012 and 2014. They offered opportunities to learn how to plan for future outbreaks, and reflection by governments and multilateral agencies.

So the questions we are asking now about resource allocation, the need for stringent lockdowns and enforced quarantines, information dissemination and transparency, access to care and protections for those who provide it are not new. Yet we find ourselves on the back foot.

The American bioethics professor Joseph Fins called the COVID-19 pandemic a stress test for bioethics, acknowledging that even ethicists ignored a tale of inequity unfolding around us. Despite early pronouncements that this was a pandemic that would touch everyone equally, its clear today that this isnt the case. And its become abundantly clear that the absence of an ethical approach to decision-making has widened this gap.

In our pandemic, ethics need to be considered in every aspect of crisis management, at every stage immediate steps to contain and prevent; medium-term strategies of care and compensation; and long-term plans for well-being and rehabilitation. One might expect that ethics are the foundation for any action, by the state and by the individual.

However, there is today a tired acknowledgment that the failures of management have been undergirded by a lack of ethical and moral vision, a refusal to think in terms of Gandhis talisman that asks us to weigh every action in terms of how it would benefit the weakest, the most vulnerable.

Consider the ethics of the most visible response to the pandemic: the lockdown. At the broadest level, the Indian governments response seems to have been guided not by a deep commitment to the wellbeing of all its people but by what Debraj Ray and S. Subramanian call a politics of visibility: draconian on high-profile measures such as lockdown, weak on the measures that are less easily observed. They describe the governments actions as constituting nothing more than a nationwide project of virtue signalling.

What I observed since the crisis started, Jesani said, was that there was absolutely no discussion or consideration of ethics in the kind of response that was formulated in India Did the government really consult public health experts?

One key ethical concern, in his view, is that there was no time given for the most vulnerable groups in the country to prepare for the lockdowns consequences, revealing a huge empathy gap between those who made policy and those who suffered it.

Jesani also called attention to how the lockdown and the ways in which it was enforced contravened the Siracusa principles, a covenant drafted in 1985 by the International Council of Jurists. It details how states need to weigh human rights considerations when they impose restrictions to deal with public health emergencies.

But instead of a public health response, the governments approach ended up making it a law and order problem, Bhan said.

According to Maxwell Smith and Diego Silva, The nuance necessary in planning and preparing for how isolation will be deployed in an ethical manner depending on the type of infectious disease and potential pandemic makes it difficult to plan for such differences unless one explicitly considers them in advance. A commentary on the British Medical Journal blog by ethicist David Shaw addressed the need to triage ethical issues during a pandemic.

In the Indian lockdown, one of the most restrictive in the world, there was no indication that the government had considered such issues, and the few measures taken after the migrants crisis unraveled followed public interest suits initiated by civil society. B.R. Shamanna, a professor of public health and epidemiology at the University of Hyderabad, acknowledged that the pandemic has thrown up new issues in health governance. The need for portability of government schemes across state lines was particularly in evidence as migrants were unable to access benefits in their adoptive towns.

I was surprised that the government went for a pan-India lockdown, Jesani continued. To be very frank, [the decision makers] were so obsessed with the virus, they forgot the people completely.

Health NGOs and community organisations stepped into the yawning gap created by the governments decision, patching together relief efforts in the absence of state direction. We need circumscribed lockdowns, and we need to think of support systems. That would have been the ethical way, Jesani said.

Lives on the front line

The front line has become a clich but in the public imagination, its the site of our war against the virus. (Some have argued against the use of the war metaphor as detrimental to a cooperative mindset while another group has pointed to its value in mobilising common cause.) The front line has been the centre of attention and where the ethics of care has been debated to some extent.

Practitioners encounter the difficult decisions of whom to test, whom to treat and where to focus attention and resources. Stories from Italy, where doctors were forced to make decisions about whom to ventilate demonstrated the difficulty of triaging in resource-constrained situations. Medical workers are supported when a disinterested party like a hospital ethics committee offers guidance on such issues in a culturally sensitive manner, but few hospitals in India have such committees.

For years, the duty to care has been taken for granted. No one thought about the need to protect those who provided medical care; the entire focus was on the patient, said Justice T.N.C. Rangarajan, a retired judge of the Andhra Pradesh high court who chairs several institutional ethics committees.

The umbrella of ethics needs to consider workplace protections even for those who have a duty to care often seen as a responsibility they must endure without complaint. Sandhya Srinivasan, consulting editor of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics and longtime health rights activist, has argued that an ethical reconsideration requires us to recognise that healthcare service providers are not just doctors.

As agitating ASHA workers in Karnataka and elsewhere remind us, those at the very front of the line are often ancillary workers, whose rights and needs are often ignored. Srinivasan described the work of the Centre for Bioethics and Culture in Pakistan: it has worked to expand the definition of health worker to include cleaners, attendants, nursing aides and community health volunteers, among others.

Another ethical issue Srinivasan raised relates to medical decision-making, where doctors are still required to draw on the evidence base but often have to resist pressure from government and patients to try untested therapies.

The tentative nature of knowledge around the novel coronavirus has led to a situation where medical practitioners have to accept the limits of their ability to treat its infection, and ethics demands open and truthful communication with patients and caregivers. Few hospitals have clear communication protocols and there is little training in ethical physician-patient interaction.

This is complicated by the diversity of the patient population and the tendency to adopt a paternalistic attitude towards patients from marginalised groups, often bypassing consent requirements even in experimental treatments. This has been happening both in clinical and community health settings. Jesani cited the Mumbai municipalitys unilateral decision to dose all of Dharavis residents with hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic despite the contrary evidence of its efficacy.

Ultimately, with the intervention of NGOs and health activists, they were able to contain the spread through the participation of the community, with open communication within a month, Jesani said.

The pandemic has also made even more visible the political, cultural and economic fault-lines that exist in healthcare delivery in India, with the government unable to effectively commandeer the resources of a burgeoning private health sector even in a situation labelled an emergency. Capping the cost of tests, ensuring standards, making beds available for the treatment of COVID-19 all happened under a pall of confusion and much back-and-forth, instead of being part of a carefully thought-out protocol.

In general, there has been little direction from government bodies on practising ethical healthcare in a pandemic. It has fallen to civil society groups such as Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) and the Peoples Health Movement to spotlight ethical gaps and raise public awareness about issues related to inequity. Jesani recalled the JSAs public interest suit demanding access to hospitals and raising questions about testing protocols, and pushing the government to make the private sector more accountable.

If the nation is in crisis, you can take away my individual rights, but you cannot do anything to the private hospitals? How can the private health sector continue to focus on profits at such a time? he asked.

He also pointed to the disregard for non-COVID-19 related health conditions that require ongoing care but which is now difficult to access. The international health community has raised this issue as well, with David Shaw pointing to the millions of cancer patients that may have been missed in Western hospitals taken over by the pandemic. In India, we can only guess at the large numbers of chronically ill patients whom the lockdown sidelined.

A pandemic preparedness plan rooted in a broad vision of ethical care would have envisioned such needs, and provided for them.

Hope and expediency

In April, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued new guidelines culled mostly from a 2015 document for research during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meant to cover clinical trials of new drug therapies, including repurposed drugs and new vaccine candidates, the document draws on lessons from previous infectious disease outbreaks vis--vis consent, protection of health workers and vulnerable populations.

However, given the somewhat chequered history of clinical trials for new therapies, particularly vaccines, in India, activists have been suspicious of the promise of an early vaccine and government efforts to fast-track tests. In the name of an emergency you cant take shortcuts to generate evidence, as Bhan said.

Shamanna also warned of what has come to be called vaccine nationalism, falling into a competitive mindset that frames vaccine development as a race that will be won by the country that puts most resources into the game at the earliest stages. Of course, in such a situation, decision-making has to be relatively quick, yet scientific integrity has to be maintained, he said.

However, others are more hopeful about changes the pandemic has prompted in the research ethics space. In the 25 years that I have been involved in institutional ethics committees, I have seen the thinking become more complex and nuanced, Justice Rangarajan said. In the early days we focused only on obvious harm to the patient, but now we look at protocols in much more detail, obviously more conscious of the broader human rights discourse. Other areas where he believes there has been progress are biosafety and institutional liability.

Shamanna also sees some positive developments in health governance. The pandemic has forced ICMR to finally come out with a formal set of guidelines for telemedicine something we need now that so much non-COVID-19 care is happening remotely, he said. He added the pandemic had pushed ethics committees to consider important procedural questions like expedited reviews, using digital platforms for meetings and simultaneously approving phase 2 and 3 clinical trials all somewhat contentious issues requiring debate.

Now what?

When the pandemic passes, what if anything will be different? How will we view the world and its interconnections, which have now become so apparent? Will we acknowledge ethical shortcomings and prepare lessons for the future, when disease X strikes? Will we shift our thinking of all cadres of health workers, such as ASHAs, as instrumental resources to be deployed as needed and dismissed with nothing more than the discordant banging of pots and pans? Or will we train a compassionate imagination on the impact of showy policies on the most vulnerable and then revise the way we do things?

Im skeptical, Bhan said. For change to happen, we need a deeper engagement with the politics of health, the social and cultural determinants and the kind of reflective decision making that is needed for this is rare.

Srinivasan said with some cynicism that we should not even assume that ethics plays any role at policy and governance levels, but she holds some hope from activists and the occasional good actor from within the system, who is willing to stand on principle and do the right thing.

She is buoyed by some positive developments in the ethics of practice and research, pushed by NGOs and taken up by visionary bureaucrats, such as accessible anti-retroviral therapy for HIV patients, availability of generic drugs and greater scrutiny of clinical trials.

This said, its hard to not be cynical, and impossible to ignore the lack of ethics in all we have seen, mostly on the part of those who have pledged to protect and serve. Even as I write this, I see a news alert that several state governments have slashed health budgets.

In a recent essay in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Donald Berwick asked an uncomfortable question: How do humans invest in their own vitality and longevity? In wealthy nations, science points to social causes, but most economic investments are nowhere near those causes. Instead, he continued, imagine for a moment that the moral law within commanded [a] shared endeavour for securing the health of communities.

What would it take for such an imagination and commitment to take hold in Indias corridors of power?

Usha Raman is a writer and academic based in Hyderabad.

Read more from the original source:
Where in India's COVID-19 Response Is the Moral Compass That Guides Governance? - The Wire Science

A lifetime ago in January 2020, researchers studying long-lived ginkgo trees found that 600-year-old trees were biologically much the same as 20-year-old whipper snappers. Ginkgoes apparent ability to sidestep the usual age-related decline prompted some to wonder whether they might be capable of living forever. Now, a new paper titled, Long-Lived Trees Are Not Immortal, aims to set the record straight, reports Cara Giaimo for the New York Times.

The century-spanning ginkgoes featured in the January study arent even the oldest known trees. In a stark, rocky landscape east of Californias Sierra Nevada Mountains lives Methuselah, a nearly 4,800-year-old bristlecone pine discovered in 1957 that holds the world title for oldest known living organism.

The paper on gingkoes, published in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that in terms of reproduction and photosynthesis the 600-year-old trees were hale and hearty. The super-old trees growth had slowed to a crawl, to be sure, but the cells showed no signs of senescence, which is not quite death but causes cells to stop dividing and eventually results in a loss of function.

But University of Barcelona plant biologist Sergi Munn-Bosch, author of the new commentary about the topic, argues the researchers simply may not have waited long enough to observe the trees eventual slide towards death, reports Brooks Hays for United Press International. At 600 years, the ginkgoes in the January study are only about halfway to their maximum lifespan, per Munn-Boschs article.

It is highly probable that physiological senescence occurs in all organisms, but that the limited human lifespan prevents us from properly gauging it in long-lived trees in nature, in real time, explains Munn-Bosch in the journal Trends in Plant Science.

The authors of the January paper didnt have multiple trees older than 1,000 years featured in the study, so they couldnt extrapolate their results to the known age limits of Ginkgo trees, explains Paleobotanist Richard Barclay, who leads the Fossil Atmospheres Project at Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History. It would be great to have been able to study individual Ginkgo plants that were over 1,000 years in age, but replicates at those ages are difficult to find, he says.

I think that [the authors of the original paper] might agree with Sergi in that they never suggested that Ginkgo trees were immortal, only that, by 667 years, individual Ginkgo trees still have no detectable levels of senescence, Barclay says. This is what good scientists do. They stay within the confines of what their data tells them.

Furthermore, while the cells inside ginkgo responsible for creating new growth were still happily dividing even in ancient trees, the layer in which those cells reside, called the cambium, gets thinner and thinner over time, Munn-Bosch tells the Times. The cambium is also responsible for producing tissues that aid in the transport of water from the trees roots to its shoots, Munn-Bosch writes in his paper. While this thinning wouldnt exactly be programmed senescence,the cambium could eventually become too thin to function and kill the tree.

Molecular biologist Richard Dixon of the University of North Texas, Denton, who co-authored the January paper documenting the mechanism behind the ginkgoes miraculous longevity, tells the Times, its probable that even ginkgo trees may die from natural causes.

Barclay hopes to see the methods of the original paper applied to trees that are past the millennial mark and to other species of long-living trees. He wonders, how universal is this approach to long life, and whether species such as Bristlecone Pine follow a similar approach, or a completely different one.

Striking a tone more akin to a philosopher than a plant researcher, Munn-Bosch suggests simply existing for such a long time represents a cumulative hardship.

"Time, in some respects, can be considered as a sort of stress," he says in a statement. Living is stressful, and this very slowly will bring you to death."

And while this idea is certainly true for individuals, Barclay notes that the genus Ginkgo appeared more than 250 million years ago, and shows up in the fossil record in a very recognizable form. Inferences about the way individual plants manage to deal with the stress of time may scale up to geological time, and paleontologists can lean on studies like these for guidelines to use when learning about how Ginkgo lasted through millenia without much visible change.

We often ponder why different species of plants have longer temporal spans, and plants like Ginkgo have survived through much tumult in the geological past, he says. Perhaps it was the strategies that allow Ginkgo to live for a long time as individuals that also allowed them to squeeze through the bottle necks that extinguished other species.

Rachael Lallensack contributed reporting to this article

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Trees Live for Thousands of Years, but Can They Cheat Death? Not Quite - Smithsonian Magazine

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Covid-19 Impact on Genomic Biomarker Market Share, Trends and Growth 2020 to 2025 - Owned

Isolation is much louder than I anticipated. I thought loneliness would be quiet, but it isnt. The construction site down the street is alive with hammering. The children across the street talk and shout and laugh. A dog barks as he walks past my house. Even my own thoughts are louder when Im alone. And Ive been alone a lot recently.I dreamed that isolation would be like space. Silent and cold. Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence. Oh, Bones. Thats life on Earth right now.

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From my earliest memories, Star Trek provided me with tools and role models that have helped me throughout life. Sometimes I find myself walking with a captains swagger. I enjoy the art of diplomacy and logic. If adventure calls, I answer. I love the idea that on the Enterprise, no one is alone. But what about me on this lonely planet down below?The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that stress and anxiety are normal reactions to being isolated, but we can and should take care of ourselves. That means that we need to understand the risks of social isolation and find ways to stay engaged with others even when we are physically apart.First, we need to pay attention to our bodies. Are you tired or fatigued? Does your chest hurt? Are there changes in your sleep or eating habits? Call a doctor no matter what your symptoms might be. Your physical health is important.Second, we should focus on how our minds are reacting to the isolation. Can you recognize the signs and symptoms for depression, anxiety, and stress? It is okay to get help when you need it. Psych Hub is a resource to help define the mental health conditions we might experience and how to get support.But, when I still need a help when I feel isolated from the world, I find myself looking to the stars.

StarTrek.com

Rishon and Kevin Uxbridge are mysterious inhabitants on an isolated planet in The Next Generations The Survivors. Even though there is a tragic explanation for why they are alone, they live nice house with good tea. Around their home is a lush green lawn. Inside is clean and beautifully decorated. Rishon shows Data a music box. Not only does it play a tune, but it also links her back to past generations.Ive been spending a lot of time in my office recently. For years, Ive had an artistic schematic of the original Enterprise next to my desk. I didnt want to ruin it by taking it out of its protective wrap, but a few weeks ago, I unveiled it and hung it on my wall. It makes my little work space much happier. Clearing my desk and adding a few pictures help me feel connected to the things I love.

StarTrek.com

Kirk finds himself beamed onto an empty ship in The Original Series Mark of Gideon. He wants to know what happened to his crew. He doesnt like being alone. Eventually, he meets Odona who loves the isolation. She spins and twirls like a child set free in an open field. Its an episode about a lot of big issues including herd immunity, longevity, the price of utopias, reproductive rights, and Spock rejecting both diplomatic and bureaucratic pressures. Though its not an episode thats often mentioned, I watched it recently in a new light. Mark of Gideon is about revolution!Consider the reasons for our isolation. There might be many different reasons. For me, it is the good of the many. It makes it easier to isolate thinking of the larger cause. If there are other reasons for your isolation, how can you make connections? How can you be like Odona? She reveled in the chance to be alone. I might not be baking bread or writing the next great novel, but I am looking at myself in a new positive way. Ive changed some of my old habits. Ive changed my hair. Im exercising with my new found time. The critical eye on myself has become less critical. Im more willing to allow myself the grace to feel comfortable in my skin.

The Borg stay connected. Literally. They are never alone. I see the multiple screens and monitors on my desk and feel like Im at the helm of my own spaceship. Each bit of news, each website, each social media post, and each video conference connects me back to the human collective. There are positives and negatives for being a Borg. Am I watching too much news? Then I watch less. I dont consume media all day. Once or twice a day is better for me. I control my consumption of information because too much makes me feel alone. I am enslaved by the technology some days. Other days Im thankful for it. Am I a human or am I machine? Can I have the best of both worlds?I try to unplug. I havent printed documents in ages, but now I do it so I can move away from the screens and focus on my work without interruption. I choose a different vantage point. The Borg cant do that, but I can. I actively find ways to vary my work and leisure hours. Resistance isnt futile. Its inevitable.

StarTrek.com

I use Star Trek to help me get through my periods of isolation. Ive been doing this my whole life. I spent much of my childhood alone with my closest friends on the final frontier. I have a favorite episode for every mood and every malady. I call it my Star Trek Rx. In The Next Generation episode The Bonding, Picard says, No one is alone on the Starship Enterprise. No one. So even if weve never met, I have been, and always shall be, your friend.

Nicki Salcedo (she/her) works in the corporate world by day and writes at night. Star Trek was her first friend. Find her on twitter @NickiSalcedo.

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On the Enterprise, No One is Alone - Star Trek

The Los Angeles Zoo announced Thursday the deaths of African lion pair Hubert and Kalisa.

The Zoo said in a press release that they made the difficult decision to euthanize the 21-year-old partners "due to their declining health and age-related illnesses that diminished their quality of life."

"Hubert and Kalisa lived far past the expected lifespan of African lions, and they inevitably began to suffer from age-related issues. Of course, we did not want them to suffer physically and wanted to do what was best for them," Beth Schaefer, the Zoo's Director of Animal Programs, said.

Local news from across Southern California

"With very heavy hearts that also contain gratitude for having known them, animal care and veterinary health staff came to the consensus that humane euthanasia was in the best interest of their welfare as their quality of life had diminished."

Kalisa was born in 1998 and Hubert in 1999. They met at the Woodland Park Zoo and were moved to the LA Zoo 6 years ago. Hubert fathered 10 cubs throughout his life, and though he and Kalisa never had cubs together, the LA Zoo said in a news release the two were life partners and loyal companions.

"Kalisa and Hubert were often seen sleeping together and grooming one another," Schaefer explained, noting that visitors often commented on the obvious bond between the two lions.

"You cannot think of Hubert without thinking of his companion, Kalisa; theyve been an inseparable couple for years," Alisa Behar, the Zoo's Curator of Mammals added.

The average life expectancy for African lions that live in the wild is in the mid-teens, while it is about 17 years for those in Zoos. CEO & Zoo Director of the LA Zoo, Denise Verret noted that the longevity of Huberts and Kalisas lives is a testament to the expert care of the Zoos veterinary and animal care teams.

"Hubert and Kalisa are an iconic part of the LA Zoo experience, and our staff and guests have been touched by their loyal companionship," Verret said.

The African lion, which is native to the savannas, arid woodlands, and semi-desert regions from south of the Sahara Desert to South Africa, is categorized by the IUCN Red List as vulnerable due to human-wildlife conflict, prey depletion, the illegal trade of lion body parts for traditional medicine, trophy hunting, and disease.

Read more:
LA Zoo Mourns the Loss of Beloved African Lion Pair - NBC Southern California

Welcome to the summer of 2020, and a vacation season like no other! Some of you readers may be furtively planning to escape to isolated cabins hidden away in the mountains for a week or two. But most of us will be spending our summer breaks wishing we could do something more than a staycation with the very same people we have been trapped with enjoying quality time with since the late spring.

But no matter what your situation, we have something for you: Strategic Outposts Fifth Annual Summer Vacation Reading List! Just like our lists in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, weve once again carefully selected some of the best natsec books, articles, podcasts, and films to engage your brain and divert your attention from the distressing daily drumbeat of news. So make yourself a large quarantini, retreat into a quiet corner if youre lucky enough to have one, and immerse yourself in this years picks!*

The Pandemic and Its Implications

The July/August issue of Foreign Affairs. COVID-19 has not only profoundly changed our daily lives; it is also transforming the world in which we live. The first four articles in this issue help us better understand what these changes mean. Michael Osterholm and Mark Olshaker start off with the sobering reminder that future pandemics could be far worse than this one, and suggest several important ways to improve national preparedness. Francis Fukuyama argues that the pandemic might spur a renaissance of liberal democracy, but is more likely to even further erode the current world order and strengthen global fascist movements. Danielle Allen (who appears twice on this list) argues that the fragmented U.S. response to COVID-19 not only reflects a failure of governance, but also exposes how fragile American democracy can be when the nation lacks a sense of common purpose. And Stewart Patrick laments the dismal multilateral response to the pandemic, and worries that global leaders will now only further undermine international institutions instead of trying to make them more effective.

Things You Should Worry About (More Than You Already Are)

The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare, by Christian Brose. This book examines the looming threats to U.S. military preeminence, especially from China, and concludes that the United States is badly prepared for a growing number of existential challenges. Brose, a former staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee, provides a cogent account of the systemic missteps in building U.S. military capabilities over the last decade and more, and suggests how to fix the militarys gaping shortfalls moving ahead. This book will raise hackles in the defense industry and even among those tribes in the services whose prize legacy platforms are threatened, but Brose rightly argues that a new approach is needed to ensure that the U.S. military can prevail against high-end potential adversaries.

Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare, by Thomas Rid. Full disclosure up front: Rid is one of our colleagues at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. But even if we didnt know him, wed recommend this incredibly important new book motivated by the Russian threat to destabilize the 2016 elections. Rid highlights the extensive history of disinformation over the past century, and how it has been transformed by the digital revolution. But he also argues that Russia was able to fully leverage its long experience with these dark arts against the United States because of the unprecedented level of divisiveness that characterizes American society today. The book provides a chilling warning about the risks of foreign interference in the November election and beyond. For those who prefer their dangers in audio form, tune into Lawfares two podcast episodes where Rid discusses the book with experts from Brookings.

War and the Military

The Outpost, available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime, iTunes, and Vudu. This brand-new movie dramatizes the gut-wrenching 2009 battle for a tiny U.S. outpost in the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Drawn from journalist Jake Tappers 2012 book of the same name, the film depicts the desperate battle in which eight Americans died, 27 were wounded, and two ultimately received the Medal of Honor. The Outpost provides an incomparable look in realistic, bloody detail at what infantry close combat looks like when fighting against overwhelming odds.

Thank You for Your Service. Alice Friend and Jim Golby are two of the foremost thinkers on civil-military relations, and theyve teamed up in this new podcast from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. They focus on the often-fraught relationship between the military and its civilian masters, and bring together academics and practitioners to share their different perspectives. Dont miss the episode called The Civ-Mil of Hamilton, which examines the megahit musicals subtle lessons on military service and social mobility at the time of the American Revolution.

Understanding Tech Trends

The Future Is Faster Than You Think, by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler. Two acclaimed futurists have teamed up once again for the third installment of their Exponential Technology series. Diamandis, a space and innovation entrepreneur, and Kotler, a peak-performance expert, examine how the unprecedented convergence of new technologies will transform nearly every human activity from education to longevity to health care, and a great deal in between. They dont discuss how these trends will affect the future of warfare, but their far-ranging work will better inform the natsec community about these revolutionary trends so we can draw out those implications ourselves.

How to Lead And How Not to Lead

The Good Shepherd, by C.S. Forester, and Greyhound, streaming on Apple TV+. Foresters superb 1955 novel has, at long last, been turned into a film. Tom Hanks stars as the captain of a U.S. Navy destroyer during a 48-hour battle against lethal German U-boats in World War IIs freezing North Atlantic. The book and film both brilliantly capture the intense pressure of command at sea and its staggering wartime hazards in a way that few will ever forget. The movies CGI effects are stunning, and bring home the reality of war at sea under the harshest of conditions in ways that would have been impossible to replicate otherwise. The story also reminds us of the truly incredible feats performed by ordinary men and women in wartime. Readers and viewers who find this story gripping may also want to plunge into Foresters Gold From Crete, a finely rendered compilation of World War II short stories that highlight the enormous challenges of naval warfare. (Pro tip: Apple TV+ offers a free seven-day trial. And if youre desperately trying to entertain small children who are stuck at home, use the trial period to watch Snoopy in Space with them a mostly educational series where the worlds most famous beagle joins a mission to the International Space Station.)

Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century, by George Packer. Veteran journalist Packer has masterfully unraveled the immensely complex life of Richard Holbrooke, one of Americas most accomplished and controversial diplomats. Holbrookes outsize persona embodied the pursuit of power, and was an almost incomprehensible mosaic of professional brilliance, craven influence-seeking, and self-serving ambition mounted atop the personality of a human bulldozer. This book is a cautionary tale for aspiring policy types, and an essential warning about the personal and professional costs of pursuing unbridled ambition without regard for the values or needs of colleagues and subordinates.

Toward a More Perfect Union

Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality, by Danielle Allen. Allen, a Harvard professor, wrote this book partly based on her experience teaching the Declaration of Independence to night-school students in Chicago. In many ways, it is an ode about the deepest meanings of a foundational American text that has most often been associated with Americas individual liberties. But in Allens incisive writing, it also becomes a hymn fully affirming the young nations deep commitment to equality among all citizens, whose centrality to the declaration is too often overlooked. Her book is an original and uplifting new take on the vision of the nations founders, and its emphasis on equality as an enduring national virtue can help inform many of the challenges facing the nation today. (You might also want to watch Allens discussion of the book at the Library of Congress last fall.)

Inspired to Serve: The Final Report of the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service. This congressionally chartered commission released its final report in March, which unfortunately got buried amid the deluge of news about the pandemic. Thats a shame, because its findings about how to improve a culture of service throughout the country are needed now more than ever. The commission makes several important recommendations about military service that are directly relevant for our community including requiring women to register with the Selective Service (something weve long endorsed). But the final report also stresses that all forms of military, national, and public service need to be better integrated, in order to help build a common expectation of service among the American people. We can think of no better way to help heal the nations ever-deepening divides.

We Dont Need Conversations, We Need Systemic Change, by Commander Jada Johnson. Johnson, an African American Navy officer, wrote this piece specifically about her service, but its themes apply equally to the rest of the military and to American society more broadly. She starkly describes her frustrations with trying to discuss her experiences as a black person with her white peers, and the perils of doing so with more powerful superiors. She argues convincingly that those types of individual conversations will never be adequate when deeper institutional changes are needed. Johnsons recommendations may be controversial for some, but she concludes by sharply reminding us that past, less bold efforts have always fallen short.

Life Wisdom

My Semester with the Snowflakes, by James Hatch. This short piece should be mandatory reading for anyone who has ever smirkingly put down the Millennials and Generation Z as deeply self-indulgent and delicate individuals who cant deal with the harsh realities of an unforgiving world. Written by a retired SEAL who was wounded in combat and entered Yales freshman undergraduate class at age 52, it demolishes those oft-heard stereotypes as he navigates his first year with young men and women who have often overcome obstacles he could not even imagine before encountering them. (Weve known this for years, thanks to the many talented and diverse students whom weve been privileged to teach.) But this piece will be a bracing and much-needed corrective for those who see nothing but incapacity in those generations rising behind us who will eventually take over and hopefully substantially improve our world.

Lighter Beach Reads

The Bruno, Chief of Police series, by Martin Walker. If youre frustrated that you cant travel the world this summer, and if you love food, wine, travel in France, and/or foreign detective mysteries, do we have a treat for you! This 15-book series shares the ongoing adventures of a former French soldier turned small town police chief in a rural village in the Prigord. Bruno revels in the slow rural life of southern France, taking care of his eccentric neighbors, cooking simple but exquisite fare, and savoring regional wines all while solving myriad vexing crimes that seem to rattle his peaceful existence. With mysteries that traverse the rolling hills of the Prigord to the government offices and spy agencies in Paris, Bruno methodically unravels the darkest offenses while trying to preserve his idyllic bucolic life. Make sure to start at the beginning of the series, since immersing yourself in Brunos world will happily take you far away from your current confines.

Restless, by William Boyd. Boyds ninth novel is an intriguing historical thriller about a Russian migr swept into Britains spy service during the early days of World War II not to thwart the Nazis, but to help draw America into the war. Told through a series of folders given to her daughter many decades later, the narrative contains all manner of twisting and perhaps deeply misleading accounts of the mothers wartime story and its mysterious aftermath. For the daughter, understanding her mothers secret life and unexpectedly being driven to find her betrayer becomes a vital and dangerous quest.

Just for Fun

Although 2020 will not go down in history as a particularly funny year, weve nevertheless found some small bits of natsec humor that will make you smile at least for a few fleeting moments.

Never in our wildest dreams did we think that wed laugh out loud at any video made by an Army general much less one made by a three-star. Our hats are off to Lt. Gen. Ted Martin, the deputy commanding general of the U.S. Armys Training and Doctrine Command, for this 55-second clip about how he wishes he could respond to internet trolls.

Of course no place in the natsec world provides more rich source material for comedy than the Space Force (the real one, not the TV series, which has some priceless scenes of the joint chiefs). Space Force has already proved itself as the gift of service humor that keeps on giving, including its very sophisticated recruiting efforts, its doctrinal process, and even its recent graduation ceremony.

So thats our list for this crazy pandemic summer! We hope that it provides you with some engaging distractions to help make your summer days different and hopefully a little bit more festive! Strategic Outpost is now officially on its well-earned summer break as well. We wish you the best for this most unusual season, and hope you stay healthy and safe. Thanks to all of our readers for your continued interest and support, and we look forward to returning in September!

*We thank Paula Alvarez-Couceiro for recommending Thank You for Your Service; Mara Karlin and Jenna Ben-Yehuda for Our Man; Ray DuBois for Our Declaration; and Mara Karlin and Sarah Crawford for We Dont Need Conversations, We Need Systemic Change.

Lt. Gen. David W. Barno, U.S. Army (ret.) and Dr. Nora Bensahel are visiting professors of strategic studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and senior fellows at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies. They are also contributing editors atWar on the Rocks, where their column appears monthly.Sign up for Barno and Bensahels Strategic Outpost newsletterto track their articles as well as their public events.

Image: Kyle Pearce

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Strategic Outpost's Fifth Annual Summer Vacation Reading List - War on the Rocks

The South Pacific Gyre is an aquatic nowhere. Its the spot in the sea thats farther from land than any other, so devoid of nutrients, life and even continental dust that its considered the deadest spot in the ocean, said Steven DHondt, a geomicrobiologist at the University of Rhode Island.

Yet some 20,000 feet beneath the surface of this watery desert, microscopic creatures have not only found a way to eke out a living theyve also managed to weather the inhospitality for many millions of years.

In a paper published Tuesday in Nature Communications, Dr. DHondt and his colleagues describe the remarkable revival of a small population of microbes that may have spent the past 101.5 million years ensconced in a slumber under sediments deep below the gyre only to be roused awake in the lab.

If confirmed, these microbes could be among the oldest living organisms ever found. Spawned during a time when the non-avian dinosaurs still stalked the Earth, these hibernating cells might have rested as the continents creaked into their modern configuration, the globes first grasses emerged and our great ape lineage took its first steps toward walking upright.

Such longevity is unlikely, even mathematically impossible within the constraints of some models, said Yuki Morono, a microbiologist at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or Jamstec, and an author of the study: No theoretical microbiology can explain it. But we found it.

Other scientists have unearthed snoozing microbes from harsh environments beneath the seafloor in the past. Crushed by miles of water and mud and starved of food, sunlight and warmth, cells must adapt or perish. Those that adapt can sometimes avoid death by simply teetering on the verge of it.

Scientists think that microbes will grind their metabolism to a near halt so they can make do with the meager motes of food in their environment. Some in the field refer to this strategy as the slow lane of life, said Nagissa Mahmoudi, a geomicrobiologist at McGill University who wasnt involved in the study. Theyre not really thriving. Theyre just hanging on.

But the relative rarity of such cells has made it tough to determine just how long such states of quasi-suspended animation can actually last.

So a team led by Fumio Inagaki, also of Jamstec, set sail into the southern Pacific Ocean in the fall of 2010 and drilled deep into its sediments. Over eons, mud settles in layers like a chronological stack of pancakes, with the newest additions closest to the seafloor; the oldest, some 250 feet under the ocean bottom, had been laid down about 101.5 million years before.

Even Dr. Morono was skeptical of finding life in the most ancient parts of the mucky, nutrient-poor cores the team extracted. Down there, bits of clay are crammed so tightly together that the spaces between them cant even accommodate the full width of a bacterial cell. You are packed into the sediment and cannot move, he said. I cannot even imagine such a harsh environment as a human.

But as he continued to sample backward in time, it became clear that there were microbes all the way down.

The work wasnt easy. To avoid discombobulating the fragile cells too much, Dr. Morono tried to replicate their home environment as best he could. That meant spending up to 10 hours a day working in a room chilled to below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, bundled from head to toe, as he plied the bugs with bits of chemically labeled food.

Dr. Morono expected that after thousands, if not millions, of years stuck in the mud, the microbes would be slow to rise. But within just a few days, some of the groggy germs had started to divide. For nearly two years, the researchers watched their specimens grow; 557 days later, many communities of the teeny troopers were still chugging along.

The microbes newfound vivacity hints that for millions of years, they were just kind of waiting for conditions to improve, said Virginia Edgcomb, a geomicrobiologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who wasnt involved in the study.

Its hard to determine the age of individual cells, Dr. Edgcomb added. Some may be as old as the sediments they once sat in; others may be the progeny of these ancients. Given how spare the microbes diets probably were, Dr. DHondt suspects that reproduction was probably rare. That makes it all the more remarkable that, even after spending millions of years just barely ticking along, the cells were game to sit up and party on, he said.

Even older microbes could still be in yet-untested seafloor sediments, which can be up to 200 million years in age. Future-minded scientists could find these stalwart specimens useful including those involved in the search for extraterrestrial life.

This opens up a whole Pandoras box for where we could find life elsewhere in the universe, Dr. Mahmoudi said. It seems everywhere weve gone, weve found life.

Visit link:
These Microbes May Have Survived 100 Million Years Beneath the Seafloor - The New York Times

The Problem

You are not going to find a standard valuation metric to validate the stock price of any of the leading COVID-19 vaccines that are currently in clinical trials. To the contrary, the measure is market potential if, perchance, one or more of these companies gain regulatory approval. All the leading candidates appear to have sufficient funding from myriad government, private and philanthropic sources. Early-stage clinical trial results are slowly trickling into the public domain, creating outsized market moves to both the upside on trial successes and to the downside on profit-taking.

Historically, the probability of one or several companies successfully completing trials and mustering regulatory approval looms frightfully small, about 9.3%. The slow, painstaking pace of clinical trials curiously juxtaposes against endless fundraising for small biotech companies, the contracting for manufacturing and distributional scale, and the sheer enormity of achieving so-called 70% herd immunity of a given population base deemed essential to halt the further spread of COVID-19 remains just short of daunting. For the US, that figure comes to about 200 million people. Further complicating the equation is the estimate from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology of 84 countries surmising that for every COVID-19 case identified, another 12 go unrecorded. And for every recorded death, about a third are misattributed to other causes. Changing social norms is difficult. The causes of HIV have been known for decades. Still, 770,000 people died from the disease worldwide in 2018.

In an increasingly autarkic global political environment, individual countries are spending billions to secure exclusive purchase rights of COVID-19 vaccines still in varying stages of development as safety and efficacy results slowly seep into the public domain - but long before regulatory status has been determined. Sadly, countries of lesser financial means could suffer unduly as a result. The World Bank binned a bond sale for a second Pandemic Emergence Financing Facility after widespread criticism of its response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa for being too deliberate in channeling public money to aid poor nations in that outbreak, while paying double-digit interest rates to donor nations for the use of the funds. Curiously, even London appears to be acknowledging the long-arm advantage of EU buying power with international drug companies, quietly putting aside at least for the moment its political desire to sever ties with Brussels. Demand for a medical solution to COVID-19 remains the ultimate goal of governments and the driving force of markets worldwide. In the US, the communication breakdown and reluctance to acknowledge the seriousness of Aprils pandemic wave is painfully repeating itself, as the new case count exceeds 56,000 in the US and almost 229,000 worldwide.

Given the historically low probability of any particular vaccine coming to market, the projection of any one or combination of technologies crossing the finish line becomes a highly assumptive endeavor. That pent-up investor demand shows up in the ebb and flow of clinical trials, with outsized spikes in share prices falling in both directions of publicly listed biotech companies around the world racing to bring a medical solution to market.

Yet, absent a medical solution to COVID-19, normal commercial activity simply cannot happen. In the meantime, global economic growth continues to contract. Until a medical solution is found, limiting the resulting economic damage remains the most viable policy response. And herein lies the negative feedback loop.

Figure 1: AstraZeneca Price Performance against the S&P 500

AZD1222 is a collaborative venture of AstraZeneca (AZN) (green-red line) and the University of Oxfords Jenner Institute and the Oxford Vaccine Group. AZD1222 uses a spike protein from the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus combined with genetic material, which, after vaccination, triggers the bodys immune system to attack the virus, thus preventing infection. AZD1222 is now in late-stage Phase 3 clinical trials - the first new vaccine program to reach a late-stage trial. While phase 1 and 2 studies appear to have satisfactorily addressed safety and effectiveness issues, to date, the actual results of these early clinical trials have yet to reach the public domain given the unprecedented government push to bring a medical solution to market. Bringing a vaccine from petri dish to pharmacy shelf usually takes the better part of a decade. The AZD1222 project began in mid-January and is now the first candidate vaccine to reach Phase 3 human trials - all in the space of seven months.

Phase 3 trials involves a sample of 10,000 volunteers across the UK, South Africa and Brazil. AstraZeneca owns the rights to distribute AZD1222 worldwide and is one of four COVID-19 vaccine programs selected to be part of the Trump administrations Operation Warp Speed, funded by a Congressional appropriation of $10 billion. The inclusion in the US program garnered the company $1.2 billion from the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the US Health and Human Services. Early funding came as grants from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), founded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from a working session at the World Economic Forum in 2017. Another $100 million is coming from the Serum Institute of India, one of the worlds largest vaccine manufacturers.

On the manufacturing end, AstraZeneca has contracted with Emergent BioSolutions (EBS) to produce 300 million doses of AZD1222 in its Baltimore Maryland Bayview facility. (EBS is currently working with grant funding from the Department of Defense to test whether a drug derived from the blood plasma of recovered COVID-19 patients can prevent infections in doctors, nurses, first responders and the military.) The program is being funded by the Department of Defense with a $34.6 million grant. Up to 400 million doses will come with an agreement with Europes Inclusive Vaccines Alliance, a group that includes the governments of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands for up to 400 million doses for potential delivery in late 2020/early 2021. Currently, AZNs manufacturing capacity worldwide stands at 2 billion doses.

Assuming 2 billion doses at a median price of $25/dose (Jefferies assumes $50/dose) for most flu vaccines, the increase in revenue to AstraZeneca could hit $50 billion by the end of FY2021. Total revenue through the end of FY 2019 came to $24.4 billion, essentially doubling the companys total revenue through the end of 2021 if AZD1222 debuts on world markets. AZN is well above its 200-day moving average (blue line), logging gains of 42% since the S&P 500 (black line) hit its low for the year on the 23rd of March. Short activity remains minimal, about 0.05% of the companys public float (see Figure 1, above).

Figure 2: Novavax Price Performance against the S&P 500

Novavax (NVAX) began the year in a sleepy, backwater corner of the market with a valuation multiple of $4.49/share, about $256 million in resulting market cap. The company has largely bounced around that figure for most of its thirty-three years on the Nasdaq. It has never brought a vaccine to market. By todays market close (28 July), the stock (green/red line) traded just short of $150/share, well above its 200-day moving average (blue line), sporting a market cap of $8.09 billion. The S&P 500 (black line line) started the year at 3,257 and finished the period still in negative territory at 3,230 (see Figure 2, above).

Novavaxs technology resembles that of AstraZeneca/University of Oxfords AZD1222 in its use of a SARS-CoV-2 protein spike. The technology goes one step further by using the whole protein spike in the hope that the immune system will trigger more of a robust response from the immune system and, hopefully, building enough neutralizing antibodies, which promotes stronger cell resistance to the COVID-19 strain.

Novavaxs NVX-CoV2373 also attracted initial funding package from CEPI in the beginning stages of Phase 1 trials. By the end of Phase 2 trials, CEPI awarded the platform $388 million for development and manufacturing of the vaccine. The 11th May CEPI announcement, the groups biggest grant disbursement to date, sent the stock soaring 62% by market close on the 12th of May and up another 43% by market close on the 18th of May (see Figure 2, above). The grant and immediate market interest in NVX-CoV2373 turbo-charged the companys development and manufacturing plans. With immunogenicity and safety results now trickling into the public domain and CEPI funding already in hand, the company rushed to announce the purchase of Praha Vaccines of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group, based outside the Czech town of Bohumil on the 27th of May. The purchase gives the company an annual capacity of over 1 billion doses in 2021.

The purchase further complimented the agreement reached in March with Emergent BioSolutions to provide contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) services for the companys recombinant quadrivalent seasonal influenza vaccine, NanoFlu, that has just completed its Phase 3 trials. The agreement was augmented to include NVX-CoV2373 and the manufacturing of 100 million doses by the end of 2020. The company now had demonstrated competence in two critical areas: a potentially viable COVID-19 vaccine and the timely capacity to manufacture and develop the product for markets worldwide. Further funding came in early June from the Department of Defense of up to $60 million for the delivery of 10 million doses in 2020. A private placement with RA Capital Management of 4.4 million convertible preferred shares at the 12th June close of $47.57 would raise another $200 million. Investors could only salivate at the attention and market potential, as the stock price almost tripled through yesterdays close (28th July). Earlier in the month, Novavax was selected for Operation Warp Speed funding, which gave the company a $1.6 billion in additional funding (see Figure 2, above). The funding will add 100 million doses to the US market through 2021. CEPI funding carries an unspecified number of doses for low-income countries.

The market potential for Novavax for 200 million doses at the median price of $25/dose adds about $5 billion to its total revenue picture through the end of 2021. Total revenue came to $18.7 million through the end of 2019. Just over 14% of the companys 57.9 million public float is shorted.

Figure 3: Moderna Price Performance against the S&P 500

Moderna's (MRNA) technology, co-designed with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, uses a genetic sequence from the coronavirus rather than inert COVID-19 proteins. The resulting mRNA code then carries the instructions from a persons own DNA telling cells what to do. The genetic material is encased in tiny particles, called lipid nanoparticles, dissolved in a fatty solution that aids with penetrating the cells that comprise the bodys immune system. The messenger RNA then prompts the cells to churn out a tiny piece of the virus, causing the immune system to produce sufficient antibodies to resist the attack of the coronavirus.

One potential advantage mRNA technology is in the manufacturing process. The vaccine can be produced quickly and does not require growing the virus or proteins over durations of time often measured in weeks or even months. This fits well into the literal crash course vaccine approval process, where ease of manufacturing remains a critical component in delivering a medical solution to COVID-19. Beyond the medical solution, of course, looms the restart of an economy that currently remains operating at about 75-80% of its pre-pandemic capacity and sports an unemployment measure last seen during the Great Depression. For governments worldwide, currently the major source of COVID-19 vaccine funding to date, the political dimension of successfully bringing a vaccine to market is likely unmeasurable.

Modernas market valuation started the year at roughly $7.1 billion and with a share price of about $19.23. The companys uber-growth spurt came within a month of the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, this past January and early February. The companys mRNA technology has long tracked infectious disease outbreaks, and COVID-19 provided a stellar opportunity to use its mRNA technology to target its eradication. While the S&P 500 was scratching out its market floor in the waning days of March, Modernas mRNA1273 was beginning its outsized market surge to the upside by spinning out a possible medical solution to COVID-19 based on its mRNA platform used to find medical solutions on other infectious diseases of the recent past, including the West Nile virus, H1N1 influenza and Ebola, as well as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, both of which are also caused by coronaviruses. While mRNA1273 remains a promising technology, the platform has yet to bring an mRNA-based vaccine to market. Investors appear unfazed to date. The share price (green-red line) hit 300% above the S&P 500 on a price performance basis through the latter weeks of May, soaring above its 200-day trading average (blue line). The stock has falling back on profit-taking to about 215% of the benchmark through the market close on 28th July (see Figure 3, above).

Moderna received an additional $472 million from BARDA on Sunday (26th July), bringing the total amount of US governmental funding to $955 million, and has been included in Operation Warp Speed. The funding will go mainly to meet manufacturing and distribution expenses, as well as to pay for late-stage clinical testing. Moderna has contracted with Catalent (CTLT) to produce an initial 100 million doses of mRNA-1273 beginning in the 3rd quarter, with additional millions of doses being negotiated pending the approval of the vaccine by regulatory authorities. Internationally, the company has an agreement with the Swiss manufacturer Lonza (OTCPK:LZAGY), which will produce up to 1 billion doses/year beginning in 2021. The first tranche of 30,000 volunteers were given either MRNA-1273 or a placebo in Savannah, Georgia, the first of one hundred test sites around the US participating in the clinical trials. Half of the volunteers will receive two shots 28 days apart, and the other half will receive a saline solution. Neither the volunteer nor the medical provider will know which volunteer gets the real vaccine booster. Modernas testing will include 13 sites in Texas, a current COVID-19 hot spot. The stock price jumped 5% at the announcement.

The market potential of 1 billion doses through the end of FY 2021 at $25/dose adds $25 billion in revenue to the companys bottom line. Modernas total revenue picture stood at $60.2 million through the end of 2019. Just over 8% of the companys 307 million public float is being shorted.

Figure 4: BioNTech Price Performance against the S&P 500

BioNTech (BNTX), a German-based biotech company, uses a full length SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein on its mRNA delivery platform. Teaming with the global pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer (PFE), early trials with a two-dose regime spaced three weeks apart generated a strong show of neutralizing geometric mean titers (GMT) or antibodies in a German trial of 24 people between the ages of 18 and 55. The results corresponded to an earlier US study using BNT162b2 done in March. Further, the second dose produced a strong breadth of epitopes recognized in T-cell responses to COVID-19 antigens in the body, triggering an immune system response.

Pfizer owns about 1% of BioNTech outstanding shares, but all rights to BNT162b2 belong to the German company which has done the bulk of the research to date. The majority owners of the company are Thomas and Andres Strngmann, with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Sanofi (SNY) and closely held Genentech (RHHBY) holding minority shares in the company.

The UK was the first country to secure purchase rights of BNT162b2, signing an agreement for 30 million doses, while the US is committed to buy 100 million doses at a cost of $1.95 billion, which will be distributed to US citizens for free pending regulatory approval. The US also retained purchase options on 2.6 million doses for an additional $500 million. BNT162b2 is part of Operation Warp Speed.

BioNTech and Pfizer began Phase 3 trials on Monday (27th July), with the first volunteers receiving either the real vaccine or a saline booster at the University of Rochester. The trials will then expand overseas to include about 120 test sites, with full enrollment taking about two months. Results from the trials are expected to be four to six months out.

The market potential of 1 billion doses through the end of FY 2021 at $25/dose adds about $25 billion in revenue to BioNTechs bottom line calculation - a big boost for a company whose FY2019 revenue came to $121.8 million by any measure, irrespective of the revenue split with Pfizer. Almost 16% of the companys public float is being shorted.

Figure 5: Johnson & Johnson Price Performance against the S&P 500

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), through its affiliate Janssen Pharmaceutica, begins its human trials of its vaccine entry adenovirus-26 (Ad-26) this week (27 July) as it races to get its COVID-19 vaccine play available for market in early 2021. The accelerated Phase 1/2a clinical trials will enroll about 1,000 adults in Belgium, with trials slated to begin in the US next week. Phase 3 trials with 30,000 volunteers begin in late September.

Janssens Ad-26 platform inserts a vector gene from a surface protein of the coronavirus to help trigger an antibody response from the immune system. The platform was also used for vaccines against HIV, Ebola, Zika and the respiratory syncytial virus, which exhibited similar symptoms to COVID-19. AD-26 trials with mice produced coronavirus antibodies. A similar result occurred with monkeys. A similar result is expected in human trials. Janssen is currently collaborating with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on the COVID-19 vaccine project.

Operation Warp Speed gave Janssen $456 million and Johnson & Johnson invested another $500 million on the Ad-26 project. Further funding has come from BARDA. Johnson & Johnson has manufacturing and distribution facilities already in place in the US, Europe and Asia, and promises capacity of 300-900 million doses by the end of the 1st quarter of 2021 and up to 1 billion doses through the end of 2021, assuming the success of its human trials set for September and regulatory approval for Ad-26.

The successful marketing of AD-26 as a COVID-19 vaccine would yield about $25 billion in added revenue through the end of 2021, based on the formula of $25/dose by 1 billion doses/year. J&J revenue through the end of FY 2019 came to $82.1 billion. Less than 1% of its public float is being shorted by investors.

A recent study from Kings College London revealed the not-so-startling discovery of volunteers antibodies declining significantly within a month of infection, raising longevity issues for each of the leading vaccine candidates. An interesting question arises. If the antibody response of the immune system wears off over time, how many vaccines and over what duration of time would be required to create a herd immunity level of 70% in a given demographic application?

Evidence is emerging that the T-cells as well as the antibody response by the immune system in the face of COVID-19 antigens are critical components of the equation. T-cells, among other responsibilities, provide the memory component of the immune systems defensive posturing against infection in the body. The most powerful antibodies recognize the coronavirus spike protein, the part of the virus that attaches to human cells in the body. That is why an inert spike protein is part of the vaccines.

There are many particulars of COVID-19 that are simply unknown at this juncture. Issues of longevity, the number of doses, the duration of effectiveness - not to mention adverse side effects of any of the technology offerings - are all questions that should be better answered as the results of Phase 3 clinical trials become available later this Fall. That said, there are only a small number of vaccines that give lifetime immunity for most people - measles vaccinations come to mind. COVID-19, like influenza viruses, could turn out to mutate from year to year, requiring a continuing adaptation in the defensive mechanisms produced to keep the virus in check.

Meeting such an effort on a global scale creates a daunting task for supply chains, manufacturers and distributors of the vaccine. Revenue streams for companies supplying, manufacturing and distributing the vaccine could expand geometrically over time as a result.

Disclosure: I am/we are long MRNA, NVAX, BNTX, LZAGY, CTLT. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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The Race To Erase COVID-19 - Seeking Alpha

During the PRE-COVID days, economists in some regions of the world worry about declining birth rates and aging population. You can credit this to the fast pace of life for declining birth rates and better nutrition, medical breakthroughs, exercise, and healthy living for aging.

One of the most exciting future predictions came from futurist Peter Diamandis. Diamandis is a Greek-American engineer, physician, and entrepreneur best known for being the founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation. I have read his books and attended a talk he gave in New York in a business leadership conference some years ago. The book that launched him to fame is entitled: Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think.

One of the concepts that excite the readers deal with his presentation ofDavid Gobel and popularized by Ray Kurzweil and Aubrey de Grey. Their fearless futuristic prediction is called: Longevity escape velocity, or actuarial escape velocity.

According to this concept, an indefinite lifespan can be achieved when medical and technological improvements add years to lifespan faster than the passage of time. In simple terms, humanity continues to discover new ways of extending life at a pace that doesnt allow death to catch up. In laymans terms, senior citizens will live longer, and life longevity will extend beyond human imagination.

We are nearing longevity escape velocity where science can extend your life for more than a year for every year you are alive, says the title of one article hailing the concept. Ray Kurzweil claims it will happen by 2022. Scientists believe genetic engineering, or the discovery of anti-aging drugs, could extend human lifefar beyond its natural course. The same Aubrey de Grey thinks there is no reason humans cannot livefor at least 1,000 years.

But then COVID-19 happens. As a person gets older, the risk for severe illness from COVID-19 increases. Many health experts have explained it in many news programs that people in their 50s are at higher risk for severe illness than people in their 40s. Similarly, people in their 60s or 70s are, in general, at higher risk for severe illness than people in their 50s. The highest risk for severe illness from COVID-19 is among those aged 85 or older. Other factors can increase the risk of severe illness, for instance, havingunderlying medical conditions.

Why do I have this funny feeling that the virus will take lives, and a significant chunk of them would belong to the older generation as is now reflected in the numbers of casualties presented in the news daily? It is as if Generation Z will grow up to a world with a relatively smaller aging population.

Today when I see a lot of young people speak, react, and treat their parents or older people, I wince. There is so much disrespect and too much of an obnoxious attitude there. Helmut Schmidt says: I remembered the youth movement in 1968. It started on American university campuses as a protest against the Vietnam war, then came to Paris, Frankfurt and Berlin. Within a year, you had an uprising of youth against their elders. This is not a good thing.

I guess I behaved the same way when I was young, dumb, and foolish, thinking that I knew it all and that older people are just irrelevant and obsolete. And now thinking back, yes, I was young, dumb, and stupid to have behaved that way. But it was then when there was no COVID-19 around taking the lives of the elderly. This Virus has reminded us that life is short and fickle. And that we need to value love, respect, compassion, and care for each other.

To the young, love your parents and respect your elders. Sometimes kids are growing up so fast they have forgotten the fact that their parents are growing old faster. And you never know how much time you have left to be with them.Scriptures even remind us with this warning: Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your father.(Timothy 5:1-3).

And here is the most practical reason why the young should respect and admire their elders.

They made it through school without cut-copy-paste,GoogleorWikipedia.

(Connect with Francis Kong at http://www.facebook.com/franciskong2. Or listen to Business Matters Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. over 98.7 DZFE-FM The Masters Touch, the classical music station.)

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Respect the elderly - Philstar.com

In the winter of 1959, after leading the Montgomery bus boycott that arose from the arrest of Rosa Parks and before the trials and triumphs to come, Martin Luther King Jr and his wife, Coretta, landed in India, in the city then known as Bombay, to visit the land of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of nonviolent protest. They were covered in garlands upon arrival, and King told reporters: To other countries, I may go as a tourist, but to India I come as a pilgrim.

He had long dreamed of going to India, and they stayed an entire month. King wanted to see for himself the place whose fight for freedom from British rule had inspired his fight for justice in America. He wanted to see the so-called untouchables, the lowest caste in the ancient Indian caste system, whom he had read about and had sympathy for, but who had still been left behind after India gained its independence the decade before.

He discovered that people in India had been following the trials of his own oppressed people in the US, and knew of the bus boycott he had led. Wherever he went, the people on the streets of Bombay and Delhi crowded around him for an autograph. At one point in their trip, King and his wife journeyed to the southern tip of the country, to the city of Trivandrum in the state of Kerala, and visited with high-school students whose families had been untouchables. The principal made the introduction.

Young people, he said, I would like to present to you a fellow untouchable from the United States of America.

King was floored. He had not expected that term to be applied to him. He was, in fact, put off by it at first. He had flown in from another continent, and had dined with the prime minister. He did not see the connection, did not see what the Indian caste system had to do directly with him, did not immediately see why the lowest-caste people in India would view him, an American Negro and a distinguished visitor, as low-caste like themselves, see him as one of them. For a moment, he wrote, I was a bit shocked and peeved that I would be referred to as an untouchable.

Then he began to think about the reality of the lives of the people he was fighting for 20 million people, consigned to the lowest rank in the US for centuries, still smothering in an airtight cage of poverty, quarantined in isolated ghettoes, exiled in their own country.

And he said to himself: Yes, I am an untouchable, and every negro in the United States of America is an untouchable. In that moment, he realised that the land of the free had imposed a caste system not unlike the caste system of India, and that he had lived under that system all of his life. It was what lay beneath the forces he was fighting in the US.

What Martin Luther King Jr, recognised about his country that day had begun long before the ancestors of our ancestors had taken their first breaths. More than a century and a half before the American Revolution, a human hierarchy had evolved on the contested soil of what would become the United States a concept of birthright, the temptation of entitled expansion that would set in motion what has been called the worlds oldest democracy and, with it, a ranking of human value and usage.

It would twist the minds of men, as greed and self-reverence eclipsed human conscience and allowed the conquering men to take land and human bodies that they convinced themselves they had a right to. If they were to convert this wilderness and civilise it to their liking, they decided, they would need to conquer, enslave or remove the people already on it, and transport those they deemed lesser beings in order to tame and work the land to extract the wealth that lay in the rich soil and shorelines.

To justify their plans, they took pre-existing notions of their own centrality, reinforced by their self-interested interpretation of the Bible, and created a hierarchy of who could do what, who could own what, who was on top and who was on the bottom and who was in between. There emerged a ladder of humanity, global in nature, as the upper-rung people would descend from Europe, with rungs inside that designation the English Protestants at the very top, as their guns and resources would ultimately prevail in the bloody fight for North America. Everyone else would rank in descending order, on the basis of their proximity to those deemed most superior. The ranking would continue downward until one arrived at the very bottom: African captives transported in order to build the New World and to serve the victors for all their days, one generation after the next, for 12 generations.

There developed a caste system, based upon what people looked like an internalised ranking, unspoken, unnamed and unacknowledged by everyday citizens even as they go about their lives adhering to it and acting upon it subconsciously, to this day. Just as the studs and joists and beams that form the infrastructure of a building are not visible to those who live in it, so it is with caste. Its very invisibility is what gives it power and longevity. And though it may move in and out of consciousness, though it may flare and reassert itself in times of upheaval and recede in times of relative calm, it is an ever-present through-line in the countrys operation.

A caste system is an artificial construction, a fixed and embedded ranking of human value that sets the presumed supremacy of one group against the presumed inferiority of others, on the basis of ancestry and often of immutable traits traits that would be neutral in the abstract, but are ascribed life-and-death meaning in a hierarchy favouring the dominant caste whose forebears designed it. A caste system uses rigid, often arbitrary boundaries to keep the ranked groupings apart, distinct from one another and in their assigned places.

Throughout human history, three caste systems have stood out. The tragically accelerated, chilling and officially vanquished caste system of Nazi Germany. The lingering, millennia-long caste system of India. And the shape-shifting, unspoken, race-based caste pyramid in the US. Each version relied on stigmatising those deemed inferior in order to justify the dehumanisation necessary to keep the lowest-ranked people at the bottom, and to rationalise the protocols of enforcement. A caste system endures because it is often justified as divine will, originating from a sacred text or the presumed laws of nature, reinforced throughout the culture and passed down through the generations.

As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theatre, the flashlight cast down the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power: which groups have it and which do not. It is about resources: which caste is seen as worthy of them, and which are not; who gets to acquire and control them, and who does not. It is about respect, authority and assumptions of competence: who is accorded these, and who is not.

As a means of assigning value to entire swaths of humankind, caste guides each of us, often beyond the reaches of our awareness. It embeds into our bones an unconscious ranking of human characteristics, and sets forth the rules, expectations and stereotypes that have been used to justify brutalities against entire groups within our species. In the American caste system, the signal of rank is what we call race, the division of humans on the basis of their appearance. In the US, race is the primary tool and the visible decoy the frontman for caste.

Race does the heavy lifting for a caste system that demands a means of human division. If we have been trained to see humans in the language of race, then caste is the underlying grammar that we encode as children, as when learning our mother tongue. Caste, like grammar, becomes an invisible guide not only to how we speak, but to how we process information the autonomic calculations that figure into a sentence without our having to think about it. Many of us have never taken a class in grammar, yet we know in our bones that a transitive verb takes an object, that a subject needs a predicate, and we know without thinking the difference between third-person singular and third-person plural. We might mention race, referring to people as black or white or Latino or Asian or indigenous, when what lies beneath each label is centuries of history, and the assigning of assumptions and values to physical features in a structure of human hierarchy.

What people look like or rather, the race they have been assigned, or are perceived to belong to is the visible cue to their caste. It is the historic flashcard to the public, showing how people are to be treated, where they are expected to live, what kinds of positions they are expected to hold, whether they belong in this section of town or that seat in a boardroom, whether they should be expected to speak with authority on this or that subject, whether they will be administered pain relief in a hospital, whether their neighbourhood is likely to adjoin a toxic waste site or to have contaminated water flowing from their taps, whether they are more or less likely to survive childbirth in the most advanced nation in the world, whether they may be shot by authorities with impunity.

Caste and race are neither synonymous nor mutually exclusive. They can and do coexist in the same culture, and serve to reinforce each other. Caste is the bones, race the skin. Race is what we can see, the physical traits that have been given arbitrary meaning and become shorthand for who a person is. Caste is the powerful infrastructure that holds each group in its place.

Caste is fixed and rigid. Race is fluid and superficial, subject to periodic redefinition to meet the needs of the dominant caste in what is now the US. While the requirements to qualify as white have changed over the centuries, the fact of a dominant caste has remained constant from its inception whoever fit the definition of white, at whatever point in history, was granted the legal rights and privileges of the dominant caste. Perhaps more critically and tragically, at the other end of the ladder, the subordinated caste, too, has been fixed from the beginning as the psychological floor beneath which all other castes cannot fall.

Caste is not a term often applied to the US. It is considered the language of India or feudal Europe. But some anthropologists and scholars of race in the US have made use of the term for decades. Before the modern era, one of the earliest Americans to take up the idea of caste was the antebellum abolitionist and US senator Charles Sumner, as he fought against segregation in the north. The separation of children in the Public Schools of Boston, on account of color or race, he wrote, is in the nature of Caste, and on this account is a violation of Equality. He quoted a fellow humanitarian: Caste makes distinctions among creatures where God has made none.

We cannot fully understand the current upheavals, or almost any turning point in American history, without accounting for the human pyramid that is encrypted into us all. The caste system, and the attempts to defend, uphold or abolish the hierarchy, underlay the American civil war and the civil rights movement a century later, and pervade the politics of the 21st-century US. Just as DNA is the code of instructions for cell development, caste has been the operating system for economic, political and social interaction in the US since the time of its gestation.

In 1944, the Swedish social economist Gunnar Myrdal and a team of the most talented researchers in the country produced a 2,800-page, two-volume work that is still considered perhaps the most comprehensive study of race in the US. It was titled An American Dilemma. Myrdals investigation into race led him to the realisation that the most accurate term to describe the workings of US society was not race, but caste and that perhaps it was the only term that really addressed what seemed a stubbornly fixed ranking of human value.

The anthropologist Ashley Montagu was among the first to argue that race is a human invention a social construct, not a biological one and that in seeking to understand the divisions and disparities in the US, we have typically fallen into the quicksand and mythology of race. When we speak of the race problem in America, he wrote in 1942, what we really mean is the caste system and the problems which that caste system creates in America.

There was little confusion among some of the leading white supremacists of the previous century as to the connections between Indias caste system and that of the American south, where the purest legal caste system in the US existed. A record of the desperate efforts of the conquering upper classes in India to preserve the purity of their blood persists to until this very day in their carefully regulated system of castes, wrote Madison Grant, a popular eugenicist, in his 1916 bestseller, The Passing of the Great Race. In our Southern States, Jim Crow cars and social discriminations have exactly the same purpose.

In 1913, Bhimrao Ambedkar, a man born to the bottom of Indias caste system, born an untouchable in the central provinces, arrived in New York City from Bombay. He came to the US to study economics as a graduate student at Columbia, focused on the differences between race, caste and class. Living just blocks from Harlem, he would see first-hand the condition of his counterparts in the US. He completed his thesis just as the film The Birth of a Nation the incendiary homage to the Confederate south premiered in New York in 1915. He would study further in London and return to India to become the foremost leader of the untouchables, and a pre-eminent intellectual who would help draft a new Indian constitution. He would work to dispense with the demeaning term untouchable. He rejected the term Harijans, which had been applied to them by Gandhi, to their minds patronisingly. He renamed his people Dalits, meaning broken people which, due to the caste system, they were.

XIt is hard to know what effect his exposure to the American social order had on him personally. But over the years, he paid close attention, as did many Dalits, to the subordinate caste in the US. Indians had long been aware of the plight of enslaved Africans, and of their descendants in the US. Back in the 1870s, after the end of slavery and during the brief window of black advancement known as Reconstruction, an Indian social reformer named Jyotirao Phule found inspiration in the US abolitionists. He expressed hope that my countrymen may take their example as their guide.

Many decades later, in the summer of 1946, acting on news that black Americans were petitioning the United Nations for protection as minorities, Ambedkar reached out to the best-known African American intellectual of the day, WEB Du Bois. He told Du Bois that he had been a student of the Negro problem from across the oceans, and recognised their common fates.

There is so much similarity between the position of the Untouchables in India and of the position of the Negroes in America, Ambedkar wrote to Du Bois, that the study of the latter is not only natural but necessary.

Du Bois wrote back to Ambedkar to say that he was, indeed, familiar with him, and that he had every sympathy with the Untouchables of India. It had been Du Bois who seemed to have spoken for the marginalised in both countries as he identified the doubleconsciousness of their existence. And it was Du Bois who, decades before, had invoked an Indian concept in channelling the bitter cry of his people in the US: Why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own house?

I began investigating the American caste system after nearly two decades of examining the history of the Jim Crow south, the legal caste system that grew out of enslavement and lasted into the early 70s, within the lifespans of many present-day Americans. I discovered that I was not writing about geography and relocation, but about the American caste system an artificial hierarchy in which most everything that you could and could not do was based upon what you looked like, and which manifested itself north and south. I had been writing about a stigmatised people 6 million of them who were seeking freedom from the caste system in the south, only to discover that the hierarchy followed them wherever they went, much in the way that the shadow of caste (as I would soon discover) follows Indians in their own global diaspora.

The American caste system began in the years after the arrival of the first Africans to the Colony of Virginia in the summer of 1619, as the colony sought to refine the distinctions of who could be enslaved for life and who could not. Over time, colonial laws granted English and Irish indentured servants greater privileges than the Africans who worked alongside them, and the Europeans were fused into a new identity that of being categorised as white, the polar opposite of black. The historian Kenneth M Stampp called this assigning of race a caste system, which divided those whose appearance enabled them to claim pure Caucasian ancestry from those whose appearance indicated that some or all of their forebears were Negroes. Members of the Caucasian caste, as he called it, believed in white supremacy, and maintained a high degree of caste solidarity to secure it.

While I was in the midst of my research, word of my inquiries spread to some Indian scholars of caste based in the US. They invited me to speak at an inaugural conference on caste and race at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, the town where WEB Du Bois was born and where his papers are kept.

There, I told the audience that I had written a 600-page book about the Jim Crow era in the American south the time of naked white supremacy but that the word racism did not appear anywhere in the narrative. I told them that, after spending 15 years studying the topic and hearing the testimony of the survivors of the era, I had realised that the term was insufficient. Caste was the more accurate term, and I set out to them the reasons why. They were both stunned and heartened. The plates of Indian food kindly set before me at the reception thereafter sat cold due to the press of questions and the sharing that went on into the night.

At a closing ceremony, the hosts presented to me a bronze-coloured bust of the patron saint of the low-born of India, Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Dalit leader who had written to Du Bois all those decades before.

It felt like an initiation into a caste to which I had somehow always belonged. Over and over, they shared stories of what they had endured, and I responded in personal recognition, as if even to anticipate some particular turn or outcome. To their astonishment, I began to be able to tell who was high-born and who was low-born among the Indian people there, not from what they looked like, as one might in the US, but on the basis of the universal human response to hierarchy in the case of an upper-caste person, an inescapable certitude in bearing, demeanour, behaviour and a visible expectation of centrality.

On the way home, I was snapped back into my own world when airport security flagged my suitcase for inspection. The TSA worker happened to be an African American who looked to be in his early 20s. He strapped on latex gloves to begin his work. He dug through my suitcase and excavated a small box, unwrapped the folds of paper and held in his palm the bust of Ambedkar that I had been given.

This is what came up in the X-ray, he said. It was heavy like a paperweight. He turned it upside down and inspected it from all sides, his gaze lingering at the bottom of it. He seemed concerned that something might be inside.

Ill have to swipe it, he warned me. He came back after some time and declared it OK, and I could continue with it on my journey. He looked at the bespectacled face, with its receding hairline and steadfast expression, and seemed to wonder why I would be carrying what looked like a totem from another culture.

So who is this? he asked.

Oh, I said, this is the Martin Luther King of India.

Pretty cool, he said, satisfied now, and seeming a little proud.

He then wrapped Ambedkar back up as if he were King himself, and set him back gently into the suitcase.

Caste: The Lies That Divide Us is published by Allen Lane on 4 August

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America's 'untouchables': the silent power of the caste system - The Guardian

My fasting blood glucose has been creeping up over several years. (My fasting blood sugar is around 110, and HbA1c=5.7; fasting insulin=3.1, triglycerides=91.) Recently, I tried a continuous glucose monitor for the first time, to see what I could learn about eating and exercise habits that affect my blood glucose. The experiment led me to some reading and thinking that was worthwhile, but the results themselves were disappointing, limited (first) by flaws in the technology and (second) by wide variability that I could not trace to any of the usual behavioral correlates.

Why concern ourselves with blood sugar?

Insulin is generated in the pancreas after we eat, with a cascade of effects on the body. The primary short-term effect is to prevent glucose levels in the blood from getting too high, by notifying the liver of the need to pull glucose out of the blood and store energy as fat.

Loss of insulin sensitivity is a primary hallmark of human aging. Most of the known life extension strategies in lab animals have to do with insulin in one way or another. For example, the worm genedaf-2is the worms only insulin receptor, and mutating (weakening) thedaf-2 gene doubles the worms lifespan. Life extension benefits of exercise and caloric restriction are thought to work, at least in part, through the insulin metabolism.

But glucose is also dangerous, and as we get older we are poisoned by excess sugar in the blood. High blood sugar leads to [list fromMayo Clinic]

So for long-term health, the name of the game is to keep blood sugar down with as little insulin as possible, hence preservation of insulin sensitivity is the target. Metformin is a well-studied drug for keeping blood sugar down without insulin. I have been taking it (irregularly) for the last several years, intermixed with berberine and Gynostemma(Chinese name: jiaogulan =).

This reasoning plus direct evidence for life extension in rodents and indirect evidence of life extension in humans has led me to take metformin, though it is not without side-effects.

Long-term effects of metformin

Metformin is a credible longevity drug, statistically associated with lower risk of cancer, heart disease and especially dementia in humans. Six years ago,this studylaid the foundation for metformin as a longevity drug with the claim that people taking metformin had lower all-cause mortality, despite the fact that a population of type-2 diabetics was being compared to a healthier population. This finding inspired Nir Barzilai to raise support for theTAME study.

But metformin has its risks. A long-time contributor to this site, Dr Paul Rivas pointed me to evidence thatmetformin can interfere with exercise metabolism. Paul notes his personal experience with loss of peak performance while taking metformin. My own experience is consistent with this, though I have never done a rigorous A/B comparison.This study, demonstrating a small but consistent decrease in peak performance, appears to me to be well-designed and analyzed. A plausible mechanism is the interference of metformin with mitochondrial function [ref,ref].This article claims that metformin suppresses synthesis of ATP, which is the reservoir of energy for immediate use in all cell types. Ben Miller has done the most direct and most recently relevant human experiments in this area and his findings suggest the intriguing possibility that metformin blocks exercise adaptations almost completely in about half of individuals, but not at all in the other half. (If you want to know which half youre in, youll have to wait for next years study.)

For the majority of Westerners who exercise little or not at all, metformin may show reduction in long-term risk of age-related disease; but there is no data I know of on the subset of people who do vigorous exercise, comparing metformin to no metformin. Does metformin block the health effects of exercise?Rhonda Patrick citescredible referenceson this subjectas fast as she can get the words out, and her conclusion is that exercise is a better anti-aging program than metformin, and you really cant have both.

Do glucose-control herbs also blunt the benefits of exercise?

I wrote a few years ago listingbotanical alternatives to metformin. Much less research has gone into these herbs, so we must think theoretically about interference with benefits of exercise.

Berberine works by a mechanism of action that overlaps metformin. Both metformin and berberine promote AMPK (which in turn promotes sugar burning). Both metformin and berberine inhibit mitochondrial Complex I (slowing the conversion of sugar to usable energy). There is tentative experimental evidence that (unlike metformin) berberine does not inhibit adaptations to exercise [ref,ref,ref].

Gynostemmais a Chinese herb popularized by Life Extension Foundation in their proprietary compound calledAMPK Activator. Inanimal modelsand in humans,Gynostemmasuppresses blood sugar and blood cholesterol. Like metformin and berberine, it works through AMPK,which appears to be a good thing. It isanti-inflammatory, and has a history in China as cancer therapy, supported bymouse andin vitrostudies. In rodent studies,Gynostemmahas a beneficial effect on strength and endurance [ref,ref,ref]. Theone studyIve found on human diabetes shows modest benefits after 12 weeks. The only counter-indication that I have seen is that itincreases insulin release (in vitro), which I believe to be pro-aging.

Is it more important to suppress postprandial spikes or to depress fasting glucose levels?

HbA1c is a standard blood test for diabetes. It isrelated to average blood glucoselevels over the previous 90 days (= the half-life of hemoglobin in the blood). But the glycation of hemoglobin (as measured by A1c) happenspredominantly during the brief glucose spikes, rather than the much longer periods of average glucose levels. So it might be fairer to say that A1c summarizes peak glucose events over a 90-day period. And we might guess that the long-term health risks of high blood sugar are similarly more sensitive to the peaks than to the average.

I believe that apoptosis is on a hair trigger as we age, and part of the reason for this is too much p53.This studylinks P53 activation to postprandial glucose spikes, rather than to high average glucose levels.This studylinks deterioration in endothelial function (related to arterial disease) with glucose spikes. The same paper lists ROS and oxidative stress as additional risks.

For a long while, it has been established that high fasting blood sugar is associated withcardiovascular risk. Of course, there is also association withobesity and T2 diabetes, but for these, it is natural to think of fasting blood sugar as the result, rather than the cause.

Chris Kressersays the best indicator of metabolic health is blood glucose levels 2 hours after a meal. If you can bring your blood glucose down to normal within 2 hours after eating your insulin sensitivity is good. For me, unmedicated, it was 3 hours after dinner, but less than 2 hours after breakfast. Either berberine or metformin tamed the after dinner spikes within 2 hours.

Kresser claims that these guidelines from the American Diabetes Association are not strict enough, and that statistics show increased future risk of diabetes even for people in the ADA normal range. But he citesPetro Dobromylskyj, who makes an exception for anyone on a low-carb diet (how low isnt specified). Paradoxically, low-carb diets are claimed to be healthy, even though they decrease insulin sensitivity. I have been unable to make sense of this.

Kresser emphasizes that all numbers should be interpreted in the context of a persons other lifestyle and health indicators. In people who are active and not overweight, he is not inclined to worry about statistics in the prediabetic range. (I take comfort in this personally, and who can say if Im fooling myself?) But I can learn something from the way my glucose stats respond to medications, eating and exercising, whether or not I believe the absolute levels are concerning.

Writing inScience Magazinelast year, Charles Piller reviewed the ADA guidelines and found a consensus in the opposite direction that they were probably too strict, and unnecessarily worrisome to a great many people. By ADAs definition, 80 million Americans are pre-diabetic, which is 40% of the adult population. The conflict really is not over the statistics but the interpretation. You can say either People with A1c levels above 6 are at increased risk of progressing to diabetes or equally well, Most people with A1c levels less than 6.4 will never develop diabetes. Both statements are true.

As promised: my experience

The Freestyle Libre was very easy to use and set up. I followed the instructions and used a spring-loaded device to insert the monitor behind my biceps. It was painless. Theres a tiny wire that goes a few millimeters into the skin and an adhesive covering with a button containing the electronics.

The wearable button stores data for up to 8 hours. The other part of the kit is a reader that downloads data every time you bring the reader within an inch or two of the button. As long as you take a reading every 8 hours or less, you wont lose any data. And you can do it as often as you like, to get real time feedback on your glucose state.

The wearable button ($45) is meant to last two weeks, and then it must be discarded. My insurance (Blue Cross Medicare Advantage) wouldnt pay for it because I didnt have a diagnosis of diabetes. I found this out only after several trips to the drug store, interspersed with phone calls to Blue Cross, where I got repeated assurances that it would be covered. The reader ($85) can be reused. Apparently, it doesnt do anything that a cell phone app couldnt do, but Abbott (parent company of Freestyle) has arranged it so that you can only use the cell phone app if you purchase the reader.

To analyze historic data, you can use capabilities built into the phone app, or plug the reader or cell phone into a computer, using a USB cable. The data is uploaded to aweb sitecontaining analysis tools and an option for creating a CSV file for more detailed manipulation in a spreadsheet. (The download button is not so easy to find, but I called Abbotts tech support number, and connected without excessive wait time to a friendly and knowledgeable technician.)

My intention was to vary the glycemic content of my meals, my exercise schedule, eating and fasting schedule, and the medications I was taking (metformin and berberine) to learn what I could about glucose management. The first day I fasted, and I was concerned to see that all day my fasting glucose ranged between 110 and 120. (For reference: the standard healthy range for fasting glucose is 70-100. Below 70 is hypoglycemia. Above 100 is pre-diabetes and above 125 is type 2 diabetes.)

I ate a meal, and glucose shot up to 179 before bedtime, only gradually coming back down during the night. As it turned out, 179 was my high for the week.

The data is cut off after 10 days, though the monitor is supposed to have a lifetime of 14, because it fell off my arm. I looked for patterns in my data, and was able to learn only four things:

(In a long phone support session with an Abbott representative, they acknowledged the reality of my experience: that the monitor can loosen over time, resulting in readings that are anomalously low. They were happy to replace the monitor, and advised me against long periods of swimming. )

Unresolved

I was left wondering all the things I wanted to discover at the beginning of my experiment.

The thing that impressed me most was the natural variability of blood sugar, changing from hour to hour, uncorrelated with either food or exercise. I trust the body knows what its doing. Le corps a ses raisons que la raison ne connait pas.*

I hope to try the monitor for 2 weeks again when swimming season is over.

In the meantime, I am taking a modest, common-sense approach. I am going to leave out metformin but continue daily exercise and low doses of berberine andGynostemma, lightening my evening meal and ending the days food 3 hours before bedtime.

Walking burns calories (pulls sugar from the blood) 3 to 5 times as fast as sitting, and walking after a meal feels like a natural and pleasant thing to do. My doctor recommends it. Im going to try walking half an hour after breakfast and dinner, pending my next experiment with the CGM.

Read this article:
What I Learned from the Glucose... - ScienceBlog.com

FAYETTEVILLE After beginning his NBA career with the struggling Sacramento Kings, Joe Kleine went on to play with several Hall of Famers and for teams that made 10 playoff appearances.

Being a backup on winning teams, Kleine said during a recent interview, outweighed starting and putting up better individual statistics with a losing franchise.

I liked being on good teams, because good teams just had a happier atmosphere, Kleine said. Life was better.

The NBA life for Kleine, a 7-foot center who starred for the University of Arkansas, lasted 15 seasons and was highlighted by a 1998 championship with the Chicago Bulls. He played 965 regular-season games for seven franchises with 204 starts. He also was in 50 playoff games with 11 starts.

Kleines longevity puts him at No. 9 on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazettes list of top Razorbacks in the NBA.

I never expected to play 15 seasons in the NBA, said Kleine, who is 58 and co-owns two Corkys barbecue restaurants in Little Rock and North Little Rock. I cant fathom how lucky I was. Fortunately, I never had any major injuries.

Photo byAPPhoenix Suns center Joe Kleine (right) defends San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan during a game in 1999. Kleine played 15 NBA seasons, averaging 4.8 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game.(AP file photo)

Kleine was the No. 6 overall pick by Sacramento in the 1985 NBA Draft. As a rookie, he averaged 5.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game as the Kings went 37-45 and made the 1986 playoffs, then were swept in a three-game series by the Houston Rockets.

In Kleines third season, he made 60 starts and averaged career-highs of 9.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 24.4 minutes, but the Kings finished 24-58 and 10th in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season.

Sacramento was on its way to a 27-55 record and another 10th-place finish when on Feb. 24, 1989, Kleine was traded with Ed Pinckney to the Boston Celtics for Danny Ainge and Brad Lohaus.

Kleine had plenty of reason to celebrate because the trade came on the same day his wife, Dana, gave birth to the couples son, Daniel.

Id had four coaches in 31/2 years in Sacramento, and probably more than 30 different teammates, Kleine said. There was no guidance from management. They couldnt make up their mind about what they wanted to do. They couldnt stick to a plan. They didnt know what they were doing. It was really dysfunctional.

Boston had won 16 NBA championships at the time of the trade.

When I got to Boston, it was very clear-cut, Were trying to win, and we dont care about anything else, Kleine said. That was very refreshing.

Kleine twice scored his career-high of 23 points for the Kings against the Los Angeles Clippers during the 1987-88 season, but Sacramento lost both games. He scored 19 or more points in his career 11 times, but the Kings finished 4-7 in those games.

Kleine was used to winning at Arkansas, where in three seasons he helped the Razorbacks to a 73-24 record. He also played on the United States gold medal-winning team at the 1984 Olympics.

When youre losing like we did in Sacramento, no matter how many points you score, its miserable, Kleine said. Its every man for himself.

Kleines Hall of Fame teammates in Boston were Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. The Celtics made the playoffs in all five of Kleines seasons with them.

I tell everybody I was like a person who was on call, Kleine said. That was my role with the Celtics.

Kleine twice scored 18 points for Boston.

I didnt play consistent minutes, but when I did play because Robert or Kevin or Larry were hurt, I always had good numbers, he said. They werent Hall of Fame numbers, but they were good numbers.

I might play 25 or 30 minutes for four or five games as needed, then the next seven I might play five minutes a game. That was my lot in the NBA, and I accepted it.

Kleines career averages were 4.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 15.4 minutes.

I tried like hell to be a big-time All-Star, he said. I worked as hard as anybody and put in the hours. But I wasnt good enough to be that type of player in the pros.

Darrell Walker, a longtime NBA player and coach, said its not hard to explain why Kleine played so long.

Some guys can never figure out what their job is in the NBA, said Walker, a former Razorback player and the current coach of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Joe figured out, Im not going to average 20 points a game. My job is to come in and make open shots if I get them, make my free throws, rebound the ball, protect the rim and guard my man.

Thats what Joe did for 15 years, and its why teams kept wanting him on their roster. Plus, he was a good teammate, a good guy to have in the locker room.

Former Razorback Oliver Miller was Kleines teammate with the Phoenix Suns during the 1993-94 season.

Joe was a great guy with a great attitude and great work ethic, Miller said. Whatever you asked Joe to do, he was going to do his best. If he wasnt playing as much as hed like, he didnt get disgruntled or upset. He just kept working hard and doing his best.

Hed talk to other guys if they were upset and help settle them down.

In addition to Bird, McHale and Parish, other Hall of Famers Kleine played with were Charles Barkley and Jason Kidd with the Suns; Kobe Bryant and Shaquille ONeal with the Los Angeles Lakers; and Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman with the Bulls.

Larry was my favorite because I was with him almost four years, Kleine said of his superstar teammates. We had a lot in common.

Kleine was from Slater, Mo. Bird was from French Lick, Ind.

We are both smalltown, country kids, Kleine said. We hit it off pretty quick and easy.

Kleine said he also has enjoyed a long friendship with Barkley, who is on the NBA on TNT show.

How can you not love Charles? Kleine said. Hes just a great guy and funny dude. He was very comfortable with himself, and he made you feel comfortable as his teammate.

Charles will take a jab at me on TV every now and then or text me something funny.

Kleine said he knew he was joining a great team when he signed with the Bulls for the 1997-98 season, but he was surprised Jordan, Pippen and Coach Phil Jackson were feuding with General Manager Jerry Krause.

I didnt know about all the turmoil they were having was so deep, Kleine said. But we were winning, and I was around great players who were good guys. The coach was a good guy.

It wasnt Shangri-La, but it was damn sure better than Sacramento.

On Aug. 31, 2000, the Portland Trail Blazers traded Kleine and Jermaine ONeal to the Indiana Pacers for Dale Davis. At the time, Kleine already had made plans to retire and live in Little Rock.

My last year in Portland, practices were harder, he said. I didnt play very much, but even the little bit I did, my body was giving out.

I was just getting old. Its a young mans game. I kind of wanted to go out on my own terms. About halfway through that year, I told Dana it was time for me to retire.

Kleine said he was thrown into the trade so the salaries of the players involved would be within the numbers needed for NBA approval.

The Pacers needed me to sign a minimum contract, Kleine said. The deal wouldnt work unless I did that. So I signed with the Pacers, and then later they waived me.

Kleine laughed recalling the circumstances.

The best thing about it was, I played 15 years but I got paid for 16, he said. The Pacers actually wanted me to come play for them. But we had already moved to Little Rock. My kids were in school. I hadnt picked up a ball in three months. I was in great shape for a human being, but was in awful shape to be an NBA player.

Kleine said he enjoyed his NBA career, especially all the friends he made, but that hes glad he never became satisfied with being a role player.

I kept a chip on my shoulder, Kleine said. That made me want to work more, because I wanted to be good, I wanted to be successful, I wanted to show people I could play.

If I hadnt always worked the way I did, I dont think I ever would have played as long as I did.

I was very lucky to come from Slater, Missouri, and play 15 years in the NBA. I didnt see that one coming at all.

Originally posted here:
Shooting with stars: Kleine carved role among all-time greats - Arkansas Online

The tragic death of George Floyd and the ensuing civil unrest in our country has once again placed the spotlight on police use of force and the policies and practices that govern it.

There has been a demand for reform and defunding the police to effect drastic change within law enforcement culture. I wish to share my perspective on this paradigm, as a career law enforcement officer who has served the citizens of Atlantic County in two separate agencies for over 25 years.

As a retired lieutenant from the Atlantic City Police Department and as the sheriff of Atlantic County, I firmly support our police and can tell you from experience that the outstanding police officers far outnumber those who are unfit to serve in our communities.

However, we cannot continue to allow events like these to occur without taking meaningful inventory of our policies, tactics and training to enhance our efficiency and effectiveness as guardians and safe keepers of our communities. As sheriff, I am constantly looking for ways to improve our delivery of services and keep our officers and communities safe. This is a complex and layered issue that requires funding and commitment from local and federal governments to facilitate and sustain meaningful and positive change. Additionally, there are human factors that need to be addressed that will result in better policing. Here are some fundamental components that, in my opinion, would support systemic change:

Mandatory pre-employment screening, mental health wellness and resilience training: Psychological fitness should begin at the hiring stage and continue throughout an officers career to include mental health checkups and resiliency training. Officers will be exposed to repetitive trauma throughout their careers. It is paramount they are given the skills to adapt and overcome these experiences for the sake of their own mental health, to be present for their families and to view and serve their communities through an empathetic lens.

Standardize physical fitness requirements: Officers should be physically prepared to respond to any situation they may encounter. Physical stress is a huge part of the job that takes its toll on an officers overall health. The frequency of fight or flight in the typical officers experience is significantly higher than the average civilian. That stress response causes massive dumps of cortisol for the officer, which ultimately leads to numerous serious health concerns. Physical fitness is a critical requirement for longevity and adaptation to stress from the job.

Weekly tactical training: Training is also a crucial part of the equation to be an effective officer. They are expected to perform under high-stress, rapidly unfolding circumstances much like professional athletes. However, in most cases, they do not receive the support or time to build their skill set individually or in terms of team tactics. Standardized tactical training should be mandatory every week. Consistent training will result in increased officer confidence under pressure and improvements in overall performance.

Age and education restrictions: The emotional intelligence, life experience and education of an officer can impact his or her ability to deal with certain types of critical incidents. Science suggests the human brain is not fully developed until 24 years of age, yet there are no uniform hiring requirements to reflect these findings. A hard look should be given at establishing requirements raising the minimum age for new hires, creating higher education standards and placing limits on the maximum age of an officer, especially as it relates to physical fitness capabilities.

Community engagement: Community engagement falls squarely on the shoulders of the agency and should become part of every police organization. In other words, it should be part of the daily routine of every officer from top to bottom. This will allow the community to become familiar with their local police officers and form mutual respect for one another.

Leadership and accountability: There are many great leaders in our local and state police departments, but enhanced training and experience should apply to them as well. Professional development should be consistent and on-going to truly produce visionary leaders. Leaders who develop self-awareness inevitably create self-management skills and see personal and organizational accountability as a high priority. By implementing standardized and consistent self-assessment, training, and community engagement, we will create a greater police professionalism and community relationships built on trust and transparency which, ironically, will result in more support for the police and a healthier and safer community for all.

ERIC SCHEFFLER

Atlantic CountySheriff

Read more here:
County sheriff offers components for improved policing - Press of Atlantic City

Global Precision Medicine Software Market analysis 2020 covers the entire supply chain, focusing on supply, demand, trade and prices by country and product. Precision Medicine Software market is expected to keep experiencing a greater level of competition with a growing number of players focusing on securing a larger market share. It incorporates thorough business profiles of some of the prime vendors in the market. The report includes vast data relating to the recent discovery and technological expansions perceived in the market, wide-ranging with an examination of the impact of these intrusions on the markets future development.

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Under the COVID-19 outbreak globally, this report includes a detailed and comprehensive overview of the competitive landscape and the administrative structure of the Global Precision Medicine Software Market. In this way, users gain an adequate understanding of the condition of drivers, restrictions, opportunities and strategies that affect the market. The report also includes both subjective and objective analyzes of the global market.

Companies considered and profiled in this market study: Syapse Inc. (US), 2bPrecise LLC (Israel), Foundation Medicine Inc. (US), Fabric Genomics (US), SOPHiA GENETICS SA (Switzerland), PierianDx Inc. (US), N-of-One Inc. (US), Human Longevity Inc. (US), Translational Software Inc. (US), Sunquest Information Systems Inc. (US), Gene42 Inc. (Canada), LifeOmic Health LLC (US), NantHealth Inc. (US), Tempus Labs Inc. (US), Flatiron Health Inc. (US), IBM Watson Group (US), and Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands) etc.,

North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa as well as Latin America are the most important regional markets. However, it is now also to be expected that some other regions will take the lead in the next few years and prove to be the most promising regional markets. The global Precision Medicine Software Market is also expected to grow rapidly in the near future due to the presence of a large number of people entering this market sector.

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Thus, a complete study of the competitive landscape of the Global Precision Medicine Software Market has been given, presenting insights into the company profiles, financial status, recent developments, mergers and acquisitions, and the SWOT analysis. This study also provides an in-depth analysis of the global market with future estimates to identify current trends and investment trends for the forecast year 2020-2027.

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At IT Intelligence Markets, we model all our work on our core philosophy that believes in customer satisfaction. We serve a global clientele by supplying market intelligence research reports after conducting exhaustive research. Our reports are replete with productive insights & recent market dynamics as the healthcare industry is constantly undergoing changes like ever-changing consumer preferences, supply channels and latest technologies. Our market research analysts not only investigate the market for drivers, restraints & challenges but also gauge the overall progress of the market by comparing chief market players.

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Find Out Updated Report On Precision Medicine Software Market Along With COVID-19 Updates, Ongoing Trend, Scope, CAGR, Forecast Till 2027 And Top Key...

Roots Analysis has announced the addition of Microbiome Therapeutics Market, 2015-2030 report to their offering. The report provides a comprehensive study on the current landscape and the future outlook of the evolving pipeline of products in this area. While the field has garnered the interest of several companies, there are no approved microbiome drugs available in the market yet; Faecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) is the only commercially available procedure till date. However, the development pipeline of microbiome therapeutics has several promising candidates that are likely to result in commercial success stories in the foreseen future.

Ishita Nanda, the principal analyst, said, Among other elements, the report also elaborates on new microbiome based diagnostic solutions being developed and the upcoming opportunities in this market for different stakeholders.One of the key objectives outlined for this report was to understand the future potential of the market. This was done by analyzing:

Nanda added, The study provides a detailed market forecast and opportunity analysis for the short-mid term (2015-2022) and long term (2022-2030). Our opinions and insights, presented in this study, were influenced by several discussions conducted with experts in this area. These included senior representatives at Assembly Biosciences, Da Volterra, Metabiomics, MicroBiome Therapeutics and Rebiotix.

The 218 page report includes detailed profiles and an assessment of the microbiome therapeutics programs of many companies including:

Details of some other firms developing microbiome related diagnostics and companion diagnostics have also been captured. Examples include (in alphabetical order) Admera Health, Biocartis, Enterome Bioscience, Human Longevity, Metabiomics, Microbiome Diagnostics, Viomer, Whole Biome.

For additional details, please visithttp://www.rootsanalysis.com/reports/view_document/microbiome-therapeutics-market-2015-2030/117.htmlor email[emailprotected]

About Roots Analysis

Roots Analysis is a specialist market research company, sharing fresh and independent perspectives in the bio-pharmaceutical industry. The in-depth research, analysis and insights are driven by an experienced leadership team which has gained many years of significant experience in this sector. If youd like us to help you with your growing business needs, get in touch at[emailprotected]

See original here:
Microbiome Therapeutics Market: What's the Future Potential? - Bulletin Line

Over the past week I have been sent countless videos and links of people talking about civil rights and how Melbournians are at the effect of a dictatorial government that is not just infringing on our civil liberties but taking them away.

I am learning, from American commentators, how our government is invading homes and ignoring the legal requirement for warrants, to arrest people breaking public directives during the stage 4 lockdown.

Right through this whole Covid-19 drama, I have seen hundreds of posts and online videos of people preaching from the rooftops about civil liberties, personal rights, and freedom.

As I ran this morning, this weighed heavily on me, and I knew I needed to write.

We human beings do not do too well on our own. We are family and community creatures. I have read many health studies over the years exploring the devastating effects of loneliness. Further, longevity studies such as those that explored the lives of women in Okinawa in Japan, life Dan Buettners Blue Zones, have shown the health enhancing powers of close friendships and community.

Further, their have been hundreds of studies, for example House et al in the US, that demonstrated how people who were involved in some form of community service at least once per month had a significantly lower risk of heart disease than the average for US society. In other words, taking care of the needs of others is good for our health.

For a community to work, every person in that community must contribute. There is a responsibility for everyone in that community to do their bit.

I remember back in the 90s when I was working as a Conditioning Coach at an AFL Club. The clubs number 1 recruit was languishing in the seconds. He was best on the ground every week but was continuously overlooked for the senior team. I asked the head coach why and he said, Because he is playing in defence, and whilst he is gathering a huge number of possessions each week, his opponents are doing a lot of damage. He has not learned how to play a defensive role.

I realised the message was not getting through, perhaps because the way the coach was articulating the message was not being understood by the player. So, I took him out for coffee and a chat.

During the chat I asked him to imagine what it might be like to live in a small community where everyone had a hut, the group grew food, and everyone had animals. One of the challenges in the community was the animals droppings, and they would be all over the paths and even on doorsteps. A daily chore was shovelling the shit. I asked him to imagine that he was the Chief or the Mayor. Even though he is the Mayor, and has an important role, he too has to shovel the shit as well as doing all the glorious things. If not, you end up with a lot of shit on your doorstep.

I let him contemplate all that and then shared, Mate, youre are doing all the glorious stuff, but you are not shovelling your share of the shit. His eyes went wide, and the message landed. The following week, he was still best on the ground, but his opponent was completely ineffective. A week later he went into the senior team and went on to become an outstanding footballer.

He was only interested at the time in his freedom to play football the way he wanted, the way he enjoyed it. However, he was ignoring his responsibilities to the team.

The two less glorious terms we do not hear about much are civil responsibility and civil service.

Right now, more than ever, Melbourne, and many other cities around the world, needs its citizens to place more attention on civil responsibility and civil service, to guarantee our future civil liberties.

Melbournians are being asked to shovel their share of the shit, because we didnt do it very well in June and July. And most of us are willingly doing so, while the rest of the world seems to be freaking out.

Wearing a protective face mask is an act of civil service and civil responsibility. It is not about giving uprights.

I feel that for the future of the world, we need to start talking more about civil responsibility and service and less about civil liberties. There has been way too much Me and not enough We. As they say, if you take the letter I our of Illness and replace it with We, you get Wellness.

But while I am on my soapbox this morning, Id like to address something else.

I am in a Football Tipping competition with some of my old Primary School friends. We are a tight group and take care of each other. There are some big hearts in this group of people and some crazy senses of humour.

In one of the seasons, one of the guys suggested the AFL was rigged and a robust conversation soon caught fire. After some time, I chimed in and shared that having worked in the inner sanctum of AFL Clubs, I thought it impossible. Do you know how many people you would have to convince to completely shut down their own moral code, and to keep an awful secret for life? I asked. Just contemplating this question alone makes you realise that it would not be possible for the AFL to be rigged.

The same goes for Covid-19. Sure, there are corporate interests that want to cash in on it, and there are huge egos out there who want to be the one to save the world. But that is how humans have operated for centuries. It is what makes the human race so colourful and fascinating.

But to even think that it would be possible to get tens of thousands of people to become willing conspirators, and to keep an ugly secret concealed for a lifetime, is the stuff of B Grade movies. It is delusional thinking at its very best!

My invitation to everyone is to start looking for the good in everyone. Get behind our leaders. This is a new and challenging situation. They are bound to make mistakes. Cut them some slack and lets all keep going. We will get to the end of this, then we can set to repairing what we have done to create it in the first place. If you start doing your homework you will realise that this virus, like the bushfires from the start of the year, is a product of what we have been carelessly doing to our environment.

To fix that, we are going to have to give up some of our self-proclaimed liberties and take on some serious civil responsibility and deliver a great deal of genuine civil service.

Are you up for it?

Read more:
What about My Rights? - Thrive Global

The Edogawa NICHE Prize for the year 2020 has been awarded to Dr. John Craig Venter for his contribution to research and development pertaining to the Human genome. This honor reflects Dr. Venters lifetime accomplishments in the power of the genomics and specifically in the identification of the human genome which has radically transformed healthcare according to Prof. Gary Levy, chair, Edogawa NICHE awards committee (www.edogawanicheprize.org).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200814005092/en/

Dr. John Craig Venter, recipient of the 2020 Edogawa NICHE Prize, for his contribution to research and development pertaining to the Human genome. (Photo: Business Wire)

Edogawa NICHE Prize was Instituted in 2018, by the Jinseisha trust, and the Nichi-In Centre for Regenerative Medicine (NCRM), which honours scientists or clinicians whose contributions lead to the development of prevention, diagnosis or treatment of any disease, through an inter-disciplinary approach. Alumni of the Fujio Cup Quiz, a part of NCRM NICHE, (www.ncrmniche.org), have priority for nomination, a unique feature of this prize. Previous awardees include Prof James Till, University of Toronto, Canada for discovery of stem cells (2018) and Dr. Steven Rosenberg, National Institutes of Health, USA for his groundbreaking work on T-lymphocyte immunotherapy (2019).

Dr. Venter was born in Salt Lake City Utah on October 14, 1946. He started his college education at the College of San Mateo, CA and later studied Biochemistry in University of California, San Diego under biochemist Nathan O. Kaplan. After obtaining a PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology from UCSD, he became a Professor at the State University of New York and joined the National Institute of Health in 1984. He has founded Celera Genomics, The Institute of Genomic Research (TIGR), J.Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and co-founded Human Longevity Inc and Synthetic Genomics.

His path breaking sequencing of the first human genome with the Human Genome Project further progressed to transfecting a cell with a synthetic chromosome, a feat that has opened up opportunities to develop novel solutions not only in healthcare, but also in environmental issues and energy domain.

The awarding of the Edogawa NICHE prize to Dr Venter is the most recent in a string of honors including United States Medal of Science (2008), Gardner Foundation International Award (2002), Paul Erlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (2001) and the King Faisal International Award of Science (2001). He was listed on Time Magazines list of the most influential people in the world.

The award ceremony date will be announced later.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200814005092/en/

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Samuel JK Abraham

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Researcher John Craig Venter Is Awarded the 2020 Edogawa-NICHE Prize for His Accomplishment in Human Genome Research - Financialbuzz.com

LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- L-Nutra, a global leader in nutri-technology, and FEAST, a non-profit dedicated to community health and wellness, today announced a new joint effort to address health disparities in underserved Los Angeles communities through a year-long series of wellness programs, food education, and nutrition information that will take place in community settings to address unhealthy eating habits and inequitable food environments in order to create steps toward healthier lives.

"Nutrition is our passion and we believe everyone, regardless of where they live, should have the access to the information and resources to eat better, be healthier and live longer. At L-Nutra, we are working to enhance human healthspan up to 100 years," said Joseph Antoun MD, CEO of L-Nutra. "FEAST is a dedicated organization addressing long-standing nutrition disparities with the infrastructure to make a difference through targeted efforts in these communities. As part of the joint effort, L-Nutra will commit our resources to support FEAST and provide our experts and knowledge to build on the organization's programs, reach and effectiveness."

Food and nutrition disparities are long-standing problems across the U.S. and have worsened during the COVID-19 public health crisis, exacerbating inequalities that factor into systemic health gaps. According to new researchby economists at Northwestern University based on Census Bureau data, nearly four in 10 Black and Hispanic households with children are struggling to feed their families during the coronavirus pandemic.

L-Nutra and FEAST aim to work together to bridge nutrition gaps and support those who are in need, specifically those that depend on food banks and live in food deserts. L-Nutra will supportFEAST's 16-week wellness programs this year in LA that incorporate food education, including nutrition information, recipes and cooking demonstrations, access to fresh whole foods through a weekly grocery scholarship, and support through peer-to-peer sharing circles designed to uncover the underlying causes of current eating habits and create steps forwardtoward better behaviours and healthier lives. As part of this joint effort, L-Nutra will immediately provide direct program support to FEAST's virtual Week of Wellness and annual Fall Fundraising event. FEAST's Week of Wellness, July 27th through 31st, provides daily morning mindful activities, midday fitness activities and early evening healthy recipes, all accessible for free through the organization's Instagram live streams, https://www.instagram.com/feast_for_all/.

FEAST's wellness programs, offered in English and Spanish, have moved to virtual platforms during the pandemic and provide weekly food boxes delivered directly to participants. Delivering essential food items to those that need it most increases food security and decreases their exposure to COVID-19, as participants do not have to leave their homes for their boxes.

"At FEAST, we have made strategic adjustments to ensure the safety of those we serve while maintaining our resolve and commitment to get them the education, resources, and food they and their families need," said Dana Rizer, FEAST executive director. "We are thrilled to have this joint effort with L-Nutra. The nutrition expertise L-Nutra brings, along with their commitment to healthy lifestyle solutions to increase longevity, is a perfect match to help us advance health and wellness in under resourced communities through the power of healthy foods and human connection."

L-Nutra also announced a separate initiative to donate Fast Bar products to hospital staff working throughout underserved L.A. communities, which have been hit hard by COVID-19. This is follow-up to a Fast Bar product donation the company made to several hospitals in L.A., San Diego, Sacramento, New Jersey and New York in April. Fast Bar is a premium nutrition bar that provides nourishment and energy.

"Medical professionals throughout L.A. are working extended hours to treat COVID-19 patients and to save lives. They are our heroes. We hope this donation will help them get through long, demanding days," said Dr. Antoun.

About FEASTEstablished in 2013, FEAST's mission is to promote health and wellness in communities through the power of healthy foods and human connection. FEAST's comprehensive programs combine practical tools like nutrition education and healthy shopping skills with food access, peer-support and community engagement to increase individual wellness so participants can live full, healthy lives. FEAST has impacted the lives of thousands of individuals in Southern California, New York City, and Lincoln, Nebraska. For more information, visit at https://feastforall.org/

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Link:
L-Nutra and FEAST Announce New Joint Effort to Help Bridge Food and Nutrition Disparities in Under Resourced Communities - thepress.net

CHANGING WORLD

(Part 1)

Modesty aside, at age 81 I think I have stronger immunity against COVID-19 than many people I know in their fifties or sixties who have been smoking or drinking heavily, sleeping only six hours a day on the average, and indulging in unhealthy diets. I have good genes (my mother lived up to 102 years of age). I have tried to live a healthy life style at least for the last 20 years of my life. That is why I felt aggrieved when under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ), I could not move as freely as those below 60 years of age. I really think there has been no scientific foundation for the classification of people by age for purposes of the various stages of quarantine under the global pandemic. I was glad to learn that the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared that 65 years of age is still considered young. According to new research done, human age is now divided as follows: 0 to 17 years of age underage; 18 to 65 years of age youth/young individuals; 66 to 79 middle aged; 80 to 99 years old elderly/senior; and 100+ years of age long-lived senior.

In fact, medical research also has shown that the most dangerous health-related threats to life occur during the age range of 70 to 80. If one survives this age range, the probability of his living much longer is quite high. We are seeing this in Japan where more and more people, especially women, are living beyond 100 years.

I recently read a review of a book by an economist and a management expert, respectively, Andrew J Scott and Lynda Gatton. The former is professor of economics at London Business School and a consulting scholar at Stanford universitys Centre on Longevity, and the latter is a professor of management practice at the London Business School. They wrote The New Long Life: A Framework for Flourishing in a Changing World. Their previous work, The 100-Year Life provided very valuable insights into the phenomenon of increased longevity. The authors have exploded the myth of the so-called three-stage life. Although speaking of three stages of life made sense before more and more people are able to live up to their eighties and beyond, today these three stages hardly make sense.

When fewer people lived beyond their sixties, the first stage was traditionally spent growing up and getting educated. The second involved working in an occupation or profession, earning money and starting a family. The third, usually at the start of their sixties, was devoted to what then was called retirement. Today, the average life expectancy of Filipinos is 71.16 years (2019). The Filipino female lives on the average to 75.39 years as compared to the male life expectancy of 67.12 years. Comparative figures in more developed countries such as Japan and most Western European countries are beyond 80 years of age.

As Scott and Gatton wrote in their books, the three-stage life generally worked in the old days when life expectancy was shorter. It allowed many to support a family, buy a house, and look forward to a pension. Today, relatively fewer young people can afford to purchase a house. Many of the elderly, even in advanced countries like the United States, do not have adequate pensions. It is clear that the three-stage life has broken down.

Governments, realizing this change, are raising retirement age from 65 to 70. Unfortunately, the majority of employers are acting as though the three-stage life is still applicable to the present generations. In the Philippines, either by choice or necessity, complete retirement from work is the exception rather than the rule among those who officially retire at age either at 60 or 65. I am no exception. As long as they are healthy enough, people of my generation continue to be employed, many of them still receiving remuneration for their work as consultants, members of the boards of directors of different corporations, part-time professors or instructors, and a good number in voluntary work in charitable foundations or associations.

We continue to work because we have been advised by medical experts that stopping to be engaged in some work or another is the surest way to have both our body and our mind deteriorate rapidly. Keeping ourselves active in some form of work or another is necessary for bodily and mental health. But more importantly, we believe what St. John Paul II wrote in his encyclical Laborem Exercens (On Human Work): Work is a good thing for man a good thing for his humanity because through work, man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfilment as a human being. In a sense, he becomes more a human being. The knowledge that by means of work man shares in the work of creation constitutes the most profound motive for understanding it.

The Saint of Ordinary Life St. Josemaria Escriva as St. John Paul II called him, had preached and written most eloquently about the value of work to human fulfilment and happiness. It was from him that I learned that no one ever retires from work. The spirituality of the Catholic institution Opus Dei that he founded is very much identified with the sanctification of ordinary work: that the ordinary Christian attains sanctity in the middle of the world primarily through work by sanctifying the work itself, sanctifying himself as he works, and sanctifying others through his work.

In one of his widely read books, Christ Is Passing By, he wrote: Work is part and parcel of mans life on earth. It involves effort, weariness, exhaustion: signs of the suffering and struggle which accompany human existence and which point to the reality of sin and the need for redemption But in itself work is not a penalty or a curse or a punishment: those who speak of it that way have not understood sacred Scripture properly.

It is time for us Christians to shout from the rooftops that work is a gift from God and that it makes no sense to classify men differently, according to their occupation, as if some jobs were nobler than others. Work, all work, bears witness to the dignity of man, to his dominion over creation. It is an opportunity to develop ones personality. It is a bond of union with others, the way to support ones family, a means of aiding in the improvement of the society in which we live and in the progress of all humanityFor a Christian these horizons extend and grow wider. For work is a participation in the creative work of God. When He created man and blessed him, He said: Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of Heaven, and all living animals on the earth.

These are some of the most eloquent words ever written about work which should convince anyone never to stop working no matter how old he may be. Retirement should not be in the vocabulary of anyone who is convinced that work is the best way to carry out Gods will for him on earth so as to be eternally happy with Him in Heaven. To be continued.

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See the original post here:
Living long and happy lives - Manila Bulletin

Recently watching The Kingmaker, an American documentary film about the life of Imelda Marcos was like being transported to the Philippines. One cant help looking back to Thailand to compare as well.

Think about the divisive person that is Imelda Marcos, and her late husband, dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. Choose your favourite divisive Thai political figures and compare. Thaksin or Prayut, anyone?

Think about how many years Thailand has been obsessed about Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck. Thaksin was elected as prime minister in 2001, in case you no longer remember, and Thai society has been obsessed about him for nearly two decades now.

The youth now spear-heading anti-government protests are really the post-Thaksin-Yingluck generation, however. Unlike the redshirts, yellowshirts and multi-color shirts, the young are definitely not obsessed about bringing Thaksin or Yingluck back from exile or having them extradited from Dubai or wherever they may happen to be residing.

Nevertheless, many from the older generations continued to be still either rabidly pro-or-against Thaksin-Yingluck. And the division has severed friendships and even family ties over the past near two decades.

In the Philippines, Imelda Marcos became the republics First Lady in 1965 and lasted in that position until her husband and she were ousted by a popular revolt in 1986 and hastily left for exile.

She returned to her home country in 1991, two years after her husband, ex-President Marcos passed away.

At 91, Imelda tried and failed to propel her only son, Bonbong Marcos, in a bid to be elected as Vice President in 2016, the same elections that saw Rodrigo Duterte elected to the Malacanang Palace.

With such enduring political longevity spanning six decades, its no surprise that Imelda is a much larger than life figure. The 2019 film, directed by Lauren Greenfield suggested at the end of the film that Imelda dreams of making her son the next president or the Republic of the Philippines continued. At 91, perhaps shes running out of time. Thaksin at 70, still has a good decade or two to seek political revenge.

Readers beware, I by no means try to imply that Thaksin is comparable to Ferdinand E Marcos, who ruled by martial law for nearly nine years from 1972 to 1981. They both have been accused of massive corruptions, however.

And while Marcos rule was marked by 3,257 known extrajudicial killings, Thaksin had his war of drugs that according to Human Rights Watch, saw 2,275 extra-judicially killed when he was Thailands premier. Horrible these figures may be, the current Philippine President Duterte, has already surpassed both and his war on drugs campaign saw over 30,000 people killed extra-judicially.

The second point that led me to reflect back at Thailand after seeing the film was the US support for dictatorship during the Cold War (and beyond). If it suits Americas national interests, they have no qualm supporting a dictator here and there. Fearing communist takeover, both Marcos and Imelda were beneficiaries of US-backing for decades including the near-decade when martial law was imposed.

Historian Jose Raymund Canoy, author of An Illustrated History of the Philippines noted that: Although the administration of President Jimmy Carter emphasized the promotion of human rights worldwide, only limited pressure was exerted on Marcos to improve the behaviour of the military in rural areas and to end the death-squad murders of political opponents.

Another Filipino author, Luis H. Francia, wrote in his book

Another Filipino author, Luis H. Francia, wrote in his book A History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos that Marcoss martial law exposed the darkness at the heart of the US foreign policy.

In spite of the rhetoric, democracy was hardly the most important issue for the U S. government when it came to its client states, Francia wrote.

Here, the film could have done a much better job in highlighting this expedient relationship. In Thailand, dictators like Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat were also like Marcos Americas boy. Today, we can perhaps substitute fears of communist taking over Thailand or the Philippines to that of Americas fears for China taking over Thailand and the Philippines. Then you can guess how the US will behave vis--vis dictator or hybrid dictator.

Back to Imelda, the chummy and mutually-beneficial relationship with America turned sour by February 1986 after a growing popular uprising was about to sweep the Marcos couple from power.

In the film, Imelda accuses the US government of kidnapping them to facilitate a regime change.

Its not true that we flee from our country, Imelda recalled in the film. We were kidnapped.

Many believe the Marcos were lied to by the US who told the dictator couple that they would be flown to Ilocos Norte, the home province and political base of Ferdinand Marcos. Instead, they eventually end up in exile in Hawaii where Ferdinand would die in 1989.

Last but not least, at least the film had unprecedented access to Imelda and yet contained counter narratives of others including from Beth Day Romulo, American wife of the late long-time foreign secretary Carlos P. Romulo.

The film was screened in the Philippines. Now I wonder if there will be a critical documentary about Thai leaders (named your favourite one!) who are still alive, ever produced and screened in Thailand.

In the Philippines, even God can be criticized. I cant say its the same for Thailand, as even some mortals are more godlike here.

Continued here:
Opinion: Filipino The Kingmaker Resonates in Thailand, Too - Khaosod English