Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

The numbers paying Irish water bills fall in wake of election pledge

CASH FROM JANUARY-FEBRUARY BILLS DOWN BY ALMOST €10M ON THE PREVIOUS BILLING CYCLE

   

IRISH WATER COULD NOT PROVIDE THE EXACT PERCENTAGE OF CUSTOMERS WHO HAD PAID THEIR BILLS SO FAR THIS YEAR.

The amount of money collected by Irish Water in water charges has dropped substantially following recent political controversies and the impending suspension of charges.

Irish Water released details on Thursday of the amount of money it collected for its fourth billing cycle, which covered the last three months of 2015.

The bills were sent out in January and February and the amount of money collected dropped by almost €10 million on the previous billing cycle – down to €33.4 million from €42.3 million.

Irish Water could not provide the exact percentage of customers who had paid their bills so far this year, but sources said the drop in revenue effectively brought the level of money collected back to where it was when water charges began.

Balances due for customers

A statement from the semi-State said 64% of “of customers paid water charges in first year of billing”.

“Following the recent government announcement of a suspension of domestic water charges with effect from the end of March 2016, charges for services provided apply up to that time and Irish Water is currently issuing bills to customers for services provided in January, February and March of this year,” the statemend added.

“Irish Water customers remain liable for balances due on any bills issued and Irish Water continues to accept payment and to deal with any billing queries in relation to outstanding balances. Legislation suspending water charges is due before the Dáil in June. Once this legislation is passed, we will update our customers.”

Water charges are to be suspended as a result of the recent minority government deal struck between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Right2Water reaction

Meanwhile, The Right2Water campaign said on Thursday said that Irish Water’s payment figures further illustrate the failure of the Government’s water policy. It called for a referendum to enshrine ownership of our water in public hands.

The group said that the utility’s figures reveal the level of non-payment for the first full year of its existence and show:

Brendan Ogle, Right2Water spokesperson said: “This meagre income should take account of the €80m spent on the so-called conservation grant, which was effectively a bribe to become a customer, leaving a net income of a mere €65 million in a full year.”

He added, “When the massive expenditure on the installation of water meters, consultants, advertising, legal costs and the billing process is considered, more than €1 billion has been spent on this failed project. This Government now needs to stop throwing good money after bad and scrap the whole project, saving taxpayers from more wastage.”

Pharmacy fees for medical card holders are costing the Irish State some €380 million

NEW FIGURES SEEN BY RTÉ SHOW THAT PHARMACY FEES COST MUCH MORE THAN THE MEDICINES THEMSELVES.

    

THE COST TO THE STATE FOR PHARMACIES TO DISPENSE DRUGS TO MEDICAL CARD HOLDERS WAS €380 MILLION IN 2014, ACCORDING TO NEW FIGURES.

The new figures, seen by RTÉ Prime Time, show the cost of dispensing some drugs that are prescribed under the general medical services (GMS) scheme can be in some cases nearly five times higher than the actual costs of the drugs themselves.

In 2014, the State paid €3.3 million for Aspirin – the most commonly prescribed medicine under the GMS scheme.

On top of this cost, it paid pharmacists €14 million in dispensary fees to five out the drug – nearly four times the cost of the medication.

The second most commonly prescribed drug to medical card holders is the cholesterol medication Atorvastatin. In 2014, the total expenditure on the drug by the State was €22.3 million.

€11.3 million of this was the actual cost of the drug, while a further €11 million had to do with pharmacy fees.

The third most commonly prescribed drug, Eltroxin, cost the State €10.8 million in 2014 – with pharmacy fees making up €8.3 million of this amount.

In this case the pharmacy fees cost almost five times more than the actual medicine.

In 2014, 59 million drugs were dispensed under the GMS scheme. RTÉ found that pharmacists are paid a dispensing fee of €3.50 to €5.00 to give out a drug to a medical card patient.

This brings the total cost of dispensing the drugs to €380 million.

“We need to look at all aspects of pharmaceutical expenditure and pharmacy fees are no different,” said Prof Michael Barry Director of the Irish centre for Pharmaeconomics.

You may decide at the end of it all the fees we are paying are totally appropriate, however when you have such discrepancies where you have a drug price that is a fraction of what the HSE is paying then yes – it is legitimate to look at this.”

Frances Fitzgerald cannot open inquest into Mary Boyle case

DONEGAL SCHOOLGIRL’S RELATIVES ASKED FOR CASE TO BE RE-EXAMINED AFTER 1977 DISAPPEARANCE

    

The Donegal schoolgirl Mary Boyle was six years old when she went missing in 1977 and also pictured above is Ann Doherty left with a picture of her twin sister Mary Boyle and centre former detective inspector Aidan Murray.

The Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has said she cannot direct an inquest to be opened into Ireland’s oldest missing person case.

Commenting on the case of Mary Boyle, a Donegal schoolgirl who disappeared in March 1977, then aged six, Ms Fitzgerald said it is the role of the relevant coroner to schedule and conduct inquests.

She said her department has no role in this process.

The missing girl’s sister, Ann Doherty, has been meeting politicians and has given new statements to gardaí in an attempt to find out what happened to her twin sister nearly four decades ago.

Ms Doherty has alleged that her sister’s disappearance from her their grandparents’ home in Cashelard, Co Donegal has been subject of a cover-up, and that not all evidence was thoroughly reviewed by gardaí as part of the original investigation.

She has previously stated her belief that a prominent local politician was complicit in the alleged cover-up, and says she and her family know who kidnapped and murdered Mary Boyle, who is presumed dead.

In a response to a parliamentary question from Donegal TD Thomas Pringle, Ms Fitzgerald said the case is subject to an ongoing investigation and that she has asked gardaí to keep her updated on any further developments.

With the assistance of investigative journalist Gemma O’Doherty and cousin Margo O’Donnell, Ms Doherty has met Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Fianna Fáilleader Mícheál Martin and other politicians to raise concerns about how the case has been handled.

A 64-year-old man was arrested and questioned in Mullingar in October 2014 in relation to the investigation, but was later released without charge.

‘Sunscreen’ gene might help protect against skin cancer through tumour suppression

RESEARCHERS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HAVE DISCOVERED A “SUNSCREEN” GENE THAT MIGHT HELP PROTECT DAMAGED CELLS FROM DEVELOPING INTO SKIN CANCER.

     

RESEARCHERS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HAVE DISCOVERED A “SUNSCREEN” GENE THAT MIGHT HELP PROTECT DAMAGED CELLS FROM DEVELOPING INTO SKIN CANCER.

Just in time for Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, a new University of Southern California (USC) study has discovered a “sunscreen” gene that might help protect against skin cancer, revealing that the unique gene acts as a tumor suppressor for skin cancer.

“If we understand how this UV-resistant gene functions and the processes by which cells repair themselves after ultraviolet damage, then we could find targets for drugs to revert a misguided mechanism back to normal conditions,” said Chengyu Liang of USC and senior author of the study.

Over 90 percent of melanoma skin cancers stem from cell damage caused by ultraviolet radiation. The American Cancer society reports that melanoma kills approximately 10,130 people each year.

“People who have the mutated UV-resistant gene or low levels of the UV-resistant gene may be at higher risk of melanoma or other skin cancers, especially if they go sunbathing or tanning frequently,” Liang said. “Our study suggests that the UV-resistant gene may serve as a biomarker for skin cancer prevention.”

The team used data from 340 melanoma patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas, as well as two experimental groups that possessed either reduced levels of the UV-resistant sunscreen gene or a mutant copy of it in melanoma cells and 50 fly eyes; melanoma cells or fly eyes with normal copies of the sunscreen gene acted as the control groups.

After administering a UV shot to cells with the normal sunscreen gene and those carrying defective copies, the team waited for 24 hours before further examination. Subsequent analysis revealed that cells carrying normal versions of the gene had repaired over 50 percent of the UV-induced damage, whereas defective samples repaired less than 20 percent of the UV-damaged cells.

“That means when people sunbathe or go tanning, those who have the normal UV-resistant gene can repair most UV-induced DNA burns in a timely manner, whereas those with the defective UV-resistant gene will have more damage left unrepaired,” Liang said. “After daily accumulation, if they sunbathe or go tanning often, these people will have increased risk for developing skin cancers such as melanoma.”

In addition, the USC team found a correlation with increased cancer risk, although there is not yet any definitive evidence that lower levels or mutant copies of the sunscreen gene are directly connected to skin cancer development.

The findings were published in the May 19 issue of the journal Molecular Cell.

Scientists now find which genes help to shape our nose

    

SCIENTISTS FOUND GENES WHICH HELP DETERMINE WHETHER YOU HAVE A NEAT NOSE OR ONE TO SHAME CYRANO DE BERGERAC, PORTRAYED HERE BY ANTHONY SHER.

Four genes help determine whether you are blessed with the neatest of noses or a schnozzle that would shame Cyrano de Bergerac, research has shown.

Scientists analysed the DNA of more than 6,000 people to discover why some of us possess narrow, pointy noses while others have hooters that are broad and hefty.

They identified four genes that affect the width and pointiness of the nose, known as DCHS2, RUNX2, GLI3, and PAX1.

A fifth gene, EDAR, was found to influence the jut of the chin.

The genes are among those that regulate the growth of bone and cartilage, and the shape of the face.

GLI3, which drives cartilage growth, had the strongest effect on the breadth of the nostrils. DCHS2 was linked to pointiness, while the bone-growth gene RUNX2 modified nose bridge width.

Senior researcher Dr Kaustubh Adhikari, from University College London, said: “Few studies have looked at how normal facial features develop and those that have only looked at European populations, which show less diversity than the group we studied.

“What we’ve found are specific genes which influence the shape and size of individual features, which hasn’t been seen before.

“Finding out the role each gene plays helps us to piece together the evolutionary path from Neanderthal to modern humans.

“It brings us closer to understanding how genes influence the way we look, which is important for forensics applications.”

All the study participants came from South American countries with mixed ethnic populations. Half the population had European, 45% Native American and 5% African ancestry.

Photos of the volunteers were first examined to establish 14 different attributes, including nose bridge width, nose protrusion and the shape of the nose tip. Facial features were also measured using 3D computer simulations.

Genetic data was compared with each characteristic trait to see if there was an association.

The findings are reported in the journal Nature Communications.

Study leader Professor Andres Ruiz-Linares, also from University College London, said: “It has long been speculated that the shape of the nose reflects the environment in which humans evolved.

“For example, the comparatively narrower nose of Europeans has been proposed to represent an adaptation to a cold, dry climate.

“Identifying genes affecting nose shape provides us with new tools to examine this question, as well as the evolution of the face in other species.

“It may also help us understand what goes wrong in genetic disorders involving facial abnormalities.”

Cyrano de Bergerac, a 19th century play written by Edmond Rostand, depicts the life of a dashing French duellist and poet whose shockingly large nose stands between him and the woman he loves.

Asian hornets that behead bees and can kill humans could be heading for Ireland?

  

An Asian hornet feasts on a honey bee

Killer hornets that can wipe out bee colonies and have caused the death of several people may be heading for Ireland.

Sightings of Asian hornets have been reported in the UK and are currently being investigated by the country’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Firefighters battle giant hornets in China

Fears have now been raised that the invasive Vespa velutina, which is active between April and November, could arrive here this summer.

A small number of the vicious predators, which carry potent venom and are between 2.5cm and 3cm long, could wipe out entire bee colonies should they make their way to Ireland, according to Philip McCabe, president of the World Bee Keepers Federation.

“The Asian hornet is a very vicious wasp – around 60 of them could destroy whole colonies if they arrived here,” McCabe told independent.ie.

“It comes to the hive and identifies the larvae of bees…the queen uses this larvae to make a ‘stew’ for her young.

“Then she essentially goes into a killing frenzy and she simply beheads the bees.”

The terrifying insects are believed to have been inadvertently imported to France over two decades ago in a shipment of pottery from China.

At least six people have reportedly died in France from anaphylactic shock after being stung by the hornets.

The reported sightings of the hornet in the UK have yet to be confirmed and McCabe thinks “it’s unlikely a true Asian hornet came that far”.

However, bee keepers in the UK have now been put on high alert by the National Bee Unit (NBU) and members of the public have been asked to report nest sightings.

Unlike the European hornet, the Asian hornet is a day-flying species which ceases activity at dusk.

It nests in tall trees in urban and rural areas – but also in sheds, garages, under decking or in holes in the wall or ground.      

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

DUP leader Arlene Foster to attend 1916 Rising event in Dublin

THE FIRST MINISTER ARLENE FOSTER DISTINGUISHES BETWEEN ‘COMMEMORATION’ AND ‘CONSIDERED DISCUSSION’

    

In agreeing to attend the event organised by the Church of Ireland Historical Centenaries Working Group, First Minister and DUP leader Arlene Foster was anxious to make the distinction between an “event” and a “commemoration”.

First Minister Arlene Foster is to attend an event marking the Easter 1916 Rising in Dublin on Wednesday night (Feb 17th).

In agreeing to attend the event organised by the Church of Ireland Historical Centenaries Working Group, M/s Foster was anxious to make the distinction between an “event” and a “commemoration”.

Last month, the DUP leader said she would not attend events commemorating the Easter Rising as she believed the rebellion gave “succour” to violent republicanism. She subsequently softened her stance to say she would be happy to attend a conference or symposium discussing Easter 1916.

• Arlene Foster speaks of her ‘difficulties’ with Martin McGuinness.

She has now agreed to attend the event entitled “A State of Chassis – Ordinary People in Extraordinary Circumstances in Dublin in 1916” in Christ Church Cathedral at 7.30pm Wednesday night.

M/s Foster said the event, chaired by broadcaster and historian John Bowman, was “not a commemoration” but a “more considered discussion” about 1916.

Reflecting the sensitivity of her attendance, the Church of Ireland press office on Tuesday issued a clarification stating it had in an initial press release “inadvertently” used the word “commemorate” in the title of the release.

The Church of Ireland said that the event is “not a commemorative one but one which is designed to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising by exploring its historically”.

The event will feature contributions from historians Dr Fearghal McGarry of Queen’s University, Belfast and Dr Jason McElligott of Marsh’s Library, Dublin and also allow an opportunity for discussion and questions from the floor.

New Red C poll shows a further drop in support for Fine Gael

DOWN 10% ON 2011 GENERAL ELECTION VOTE SHARE?

    

FINE GAEL IS IN CRISIS TONIGHT AS THE PARTY’S POPULAR SUPPORT HAS FALLEN FOR THE THIRD SUCCESSIVE TIME AS A NEW RED C POLL HAS REVEALED.

According to the poll which was conducted for the Irish Sun, Fine Gael’s support has slipped to just 26%, which is drop of five points in ten days.

It is also a full 10% below of its 2011 General Election share of the vote.

The poll, which was conducted after the first televised debate of the campaign last week, is a major wake-up call for Enda Kenny who is seeking to be the first Fine Gael leader ever to be re-elected Taoiseach.

The poll shows support for the Labour Party is up one point to 9%. Despite this increase, support for the Coalition is nowhere near the required level to be re-elected.

Speaking in Dundalk at the launch of plans to help long term unemployed people back to work, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said despite growing suggestions no party or coalition will win the election he does not expect that we are heading towards a hung Dáil.

On Monday, after days of increasing speculation, the Fine Gael leader finally ruled out doing any deal with Fianna Fáil.

However, with a grand coalition now off the table, it is unclear what if any combination of parties could occur to ensure there is a stable government after the February 26 vote, increasing the possibility of a second 2016 election.

Meanwhile, support for Fianna Fáil is up one point to 19% and reflects the reasonably good campaign so far for the party.

Sinn Féin’s call for abolishing the Special Criminal Court is one of the factors which has seen the party’s support fall three points to 17%.

Overall, the independents and others group have seen their support increase to 29%, up three points.

Within that group, the Independent Alliance is at 5% an increase of 2 points.

The Anti-Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit group are at 2% down one, while the Social Democrats are also down one point and now stand at 3%.

Lucinda Creighton’s Renua Ireland party are at 2% up one, while the Green Party are at 4% up 2 points.

Former Fine Gael director of elections Frank Flannery has questioned where the “young leaders” of Fine Gael are in the election campaign, as he criticised the party for being “complacent” in trying to get its message across to voters.

He questioned why young Fine Gael ministers, like Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney, were not playing a “dominant role” in the campaign as opposed to the “ghosts of old battles and old wars”.

The ex-party strategist also told Newstalk’s Lunchtime Show that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil might have to go into government together for “the national interest”- despite both party leaders denying they would.

“There are lots of dynamic young politicians in Dáil Éireann but none of them are represented in the leadership we’re being presented in this election.”

“Where is Leo Varadkar, where is Simon Coveney, where is the young leadership of the party? Why aren’t they playing a dominant role in this debate, representing the new Ireland and the new generation that’s coming up?”

On a possible coalition between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, Mr Flannery said:

“The national needs have to come first and everybody has to revisit their perceptions when the counting is done. National interests must come first before all party considerations.”

Minister Leo Varadkar caught up in armed robbery while out canvassing

THE MINISTER WAS WALKING INTO A SHOP IN CARPENTERSTOWN AFTER 8PM WHEN THE ROBBERS WERE FLEEING.

  

THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH LEO VARADKAR GOT CAUGHT UP IN AN ARMED ROBBERY WHILE OUT CANVASSING THIS EVENING IN A SHOP IN CARPENTERSTOWN CO DUBLIN.

A spokesperson for his department said that the Minister was walking into a shop in Carpenterstown while the robbers were fleeing.

The two men, armed with a gun and a machete, threatened staff before making off with a sum of cash.

A garda spokesperson said they managed to escape on foot. It’s understood that nobody was injured in the robbery.

The spokesperson added that Varadkar spoke to the manager of the store after the incident.

Anyone who may have witnessed the robbery is asked to contact Blanchardstown Garda Station on 666 7000.

Donegal folk regard their county as the forgotten part of Ireland

    

PARTS OF THE COUNTY ARE AS FAR AWAY AS IT IS POSSIBLE TO GET ON IRISH SOIL FROM OUR CAPITAL, BUT SCENERY LIKE THE ABOVE PICTURES  OF IT’S GREAT COASTLINE ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL YOU WILL EVER SEE ON THE ISLAND OF IRELAND?

Donegal folk regard their county as the forgotten part of Ireland.

There is good reason for all that.

Parts of the county are as far away as it is possible to get on Irish soil from our capital, yet there is no railway linking Donegal with Dublin.

Nobody in national authority bothers making a serious attempt to provide jobs inDonegal, but Dublin’s dole queues are daily growing shorter as new companies open and others expand.

The nearest of our eight so-called medical centres of excellence are in Dublin and Galway – around 330 kilometres by road from Donegal’s furthest reaches in Glencolmcille and Malin Head.

No matter how much Donegal shouts for national help, most of the rest of the country dismisses it as another grumble from far-flung cousins.

But it isn’t just a moan! Donegal, where I live, really believes it is the forgotten county.

What’s more, quite a bit of it is going to be even more neglected after the general election.

Permit me to explain.

Donegal runs alongside three northern Counties, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry, which are in another jurisdiction with no benefit to the neighbour in the Republic.

The only part of Donegal that that touches another county in the Republic is a strip of a few hundred metres where the River Drowse, which separates it from Leitrim, runs into the sea just south of Bundoran.

Bundoran, in the very south of Donegal, has much more in common with Malin more than 140 kilometres away than it has with Sligo, 30 kilometres to the south.

Bundoran and its neighbour Ballyshannon have councillors who sit in the county headquarters in Lifford.

The two towns – and neighbouring villages, Ballintra, Rossnowlagh and Cashelard – are serviced by council officials in Donegal town and Lifford and a Garda force whose ruling Chief-Supt is based n Letterkenny.

For years the county was quite happy to be divided into two constituencies – Donegal North-East and Donegal South-West – for the general election.

That’s not happening this year.

In their wisdom, constituency commissioners have redrawn the boundaries. Donegal is now just a single constituency returning five TDs instead of six.

But the real problem is for a wee bit of south Donegal – from Ballintra to Bundoran – where a population of 8,800 is being switched into the Sligo Leitrim constituency.

Every person with a vote in this part of Donegal knows more about Pat the Cope Gallagher, Thomas Pringle, Pearse Doherty, even Padraig MacLochlainn away up in Inishowen than they know about any candidate in Sligo-Leitrim.

I suspect it’s much the same in West Cavan where 13,200 voters have also been transferred into Sligo-Leitrim.

None of the candidates in the reformed constituency is from either west Cavan or south Donegal.

They are all either from counties Sligo or Leitrim.

Fat chance of either west Cavan or south Donegal getting much benefit from whoever is likely to represent them.

So far, there is very little door-to-door campaigning by Sligo-Leitrim candidates in their new areas.

By the middle of the three-week campaign just one candidate has called at my house, and he was an Independent from south Leitrim obviously desperately trying to bolster his odds by canvassing people he never met before.

There is a terrible feeling of political apathy in south Donegal.

The candidates are so little-known in this region that talk is widespread about not voting or spoiling votes.

Even if there was an election candidate based in either south Donegal or west Cavan, they would be unlikely to compete effectively with Sligo or Leitrim-based candidates.;

There’s a form of uniqueness about the way Irish people are so attracted to their own counties.

They proudly wear the jerseys when their sports teams are battling to get to Croke Park.

They have more in common with a town 40 or 50 kilometres away in their own county than with a village 10 kilometres distant if it is over the boundary of another county.

This is particularly so with Donegal which, because of its isolation in the north-west, has developed its own identity.

A boundary with the North on one side, the Atlantic all the way down the other and just a few hundred land metres linking it to another county in the Republic has the effect of creating a kind of state within a state.

That’s the way the people of Donegal like to be.

It doesn’t mean they like to be known as the lost people of Ireland.

It’s just that they are a community that doesn’t want to be ripped asunder by a faceless collection of constituency boundary commissioners.

‘An extraordinary’ 94% success rate reported in a recent cancer trial

EARLY EXPERIMENTAL TRIAL USES THE IMMUNE SYSTEM’S T-CELLS TO TARGET CANCERS

   

“THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED IN MEDICINE, TO BE HONEST, TO GET RESPONSE RATES IN THIS RANGE IN THESE VERY ADVANCED PATIENTS,” SAYS RESEARCHER STANLEY RIDDELL.

Scientists are claiming “extraordinary” success with engineering immune cells to target a specific type of blood cancer in their first clinical trials.

Among several dozen patients who would typically have only had months to live, early experimental trials that used the immune system’s T-cells to target cancers had “extraordinary results”.

In one study, 94% of participants with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) saw symptoms vanish completely. Patients with other blood cancers had response rates greater than 80% and more than half experienced complete remission.

Speaking at the annual meeting for the American Association for the Advancement for Science (AAAS), researcher Stanley Riddell said, “This is unprecedented in medicine, to be honest, to get response rates in this range in these very advanced patients.”

To administer the T-cell therapy, doctors remove immune cells from patients, tagging them with “receptor” molecules that target a specific cancer, as other T-cells target the flu or infections. They then infuse the cells back in the body.

“There are reasons to be optimistic, there are reasons to be pessimistic,” said Mr Riddell, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Washingtonstate. He added that the researchers believe that lowering the dose of T-cells can reduce the risk of side-effects.

“These are in patients that have failed everything. Most of the patients in our trial would be projected to have two to five months to live.”

Even more hopeful was researcher Chiara Bonini, a haematologist at San Raffaele University in Milan. Ms Bonini said she has not seen remission rates like those of recent trials in over 15 years. “This is really a revolution. T-cells are a living drug, and in particular they have the potential to persist in our body for our whole lives,” she said.

Tests so far have only targeted certain blood cancers, and the researchers acknowledged they needed to work on tumours and track how long patients would remain in remission. Cancer cells can sometimes hide unnoticed by the body’s defences, or simply overwhelm them and throw the immune system into overdrive.

T-cell therapy is often considered an option of last resort because reprogramming the immune system can come with dangerous side-effects, including cytokine release syndrome (sCRS), and overload defence cells. Twenty patients suffered symptoms of fever, hypotension and neurotoxicity due to sCRS, and two died, but the researchers noted that chemotherapy had failed in all the patients who participated in the new trials.

Mr Riddell hesitated to say when the work would move beyond limited trials, but Ms Bonini said: “I think we’re very close to some cellular product.”

She also expressed hope that the modified memory T-cells could eventually provide a long-term defence against cancer, using cells that “remember it from 10 years earlier, and kill it so quickly you don’t even know you’re infected”.

In the most promising study, about 35 patients with ALL were treated with Cars-modified T-cells; 94% went into remission, though symptoms could reappear.

More than 40 patients with lymphoma have also been treated, with remission rates of more than 50%. In a group with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, there was evidence of diminished cancer symptoms in more than 80% of cases.

“Much like chemotherapy and radiotherapy, it’s not going to be a save-all,” Mr Riddell said of the new therapy. “I think immunotherapy has finally made it to a pillar of cancer therapy.”

Europe launches satellite to help track global warming

    

EUROPE HAS LAUNCHED A SATELLITE ON YESTERDAY TUESDAY THAT WILL HELP PREDICT WEATHER PHENOMENA SUCH AS EL NINO AND TRACK THE PROGRESS OF GLOBAL WARMING AS PART OF THE MULTIBILLION-EURO COPERNICUS EARTH OBSERVATION PROJECT.

The Sentinel-3A satellite, part of a system of satellites that is to monitor Earth, blasted off on board a Rockot launcher from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Russia’s north-western Arkhangelsk region at 12:57 p.m. EDT (1757 GMT) on Tuesday.

It headed for orbit 815 km (506 miles) above Earth, from where it will collect data on sea surface temperature and height that will contribute to more precise weather forecasts and help forecast the impact of rising temperatures.

“When we speak about global warming we often focus on rising air temperatures, but 90 percent of the energy put out on our planet ends up in the ocean,” Volker Liebig, director of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Observation programme, told Reuters ahead of the launch.

Data from Sentinel-3A, which is to work in tandem with another satellite to be sent up in mid-2017, could also help shipping companies chart more efficient routes and may be used to monitor forest fires and oil spills and to forecast crops.

The Copernicus project, for which the European Union and the European Space Agency (ESA) have committed funding of more than 8 billion euros ($9 billion) until 2020, is described by the ESA as the most ambitious Earth observation program to date.

The launch of the Copernicus project became especially urgent after Europe lost contact with its Earth observation satellite Envisat in 2012 after 10 years.

Images taken by Sentinel-3A are lower-resolution than those from the first two satellites that the ESA sent up for Copernicus — Sentinel-1A and 2A — but the 3A will cover a wider swathe of Earth.

It can deliver images of the whole planet within about two days, which will be cut to less than a day once its twin 3B joins it next year. That compares with around six days for the two Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellites, the ESA’s Liebig said.