Biden considers unilateral actions on border; New personalized cancer treatment approved

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Good morning,

Some good news for the ladies: you can work out half as much as men and get the same amount of longevity benefits.

Fellas who got 300 minutes of weekly moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity saw their risk of death lower by 18% vs. men who didn’t workout.
Women who worked out for that same 300 minutes saw a 24% lower risk of dying, while those who got 140 minutes of 🏃🏻‍♀️ per week had the same benefits as men who did for 300 minutes.

Bottom line: The study’s co-author says, “The news to women is: a little goes a long way.”

Happy Friday Eve!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

🏥 ALABAMA’s LARGEST HOSPITAL PAUSES IVF TREATMENTS

Alabama’s largest hospital, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), is suspending IVF treatment after the state’s Supreme Court ruled last week that frozen embryos = children, with the same legal rights as other unborn children.

The first-of-its-kind ruling sent shockwaves and confusion through the state, where health care providers and families are debating next steps.

HOW WE GOT HERE
The Alabama Supreme Court decision allows a wrongful death lawsuit to proceed against an Alabama fertility clinic where several couples’ embryos were accidentally destroyed.

The case does not prohibit IVF, a procedure that extracts eggs from ovaries and fertilizes them with sperm outside the body, forming embryos. But it does create new legal implications for the treatment.
- Multiple embryos are usually created to give patients the best chance at pregnancies. Typically, one is implanted and others are stored. Families then decide whether to keep excess embryos frozen, donate them or destroy them.
- Mamie McLean, a physician at Alabama Fertility Specialists, said facilities are faced with a dilemma: “Modern practice would say transfer one and freeze one. But under this ruling, it may not be safe to freeze embryos so we will be forced to transfer two embryos … which increases the lifelong health risks to both mothers and children.”
Because of the new potential liability from damaging embryos, IVF labs and hospitals are questioning whether to store embryos. And the ones that do, might charge a lot more.
And then there are the questions for families who have frozen embryos or are planning to. What legal implications do they face regarding their decisions about unused embryos?

FIRST TO STOP
At UAB, egg fertilization and embryo development are paused so the group can evaluate the court’s decision, but egg retrieval will still take place.

“We are saddened that this will impact our patients’ attempt to have a baby through IVF, but we must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments,” UAB said.

More health groups are anticipated to follow suit. Of the nearly 3.7 million babies born nationwide in 2021, the CDC says 97,128 infants were born via IVF.

POLITICAL REACTION
The Biden Administration has criticized the decision, but GOP candidate Nikki Haley says she agrees with it. She tells NBC News, “Embryos, to me, are babies.”

Haley says she used artificial insemination to have her son, a different process than IVF. "When you talk about an embryo, you are talking about, to me, that’s a life. And so I do see where that’s coming from when they talk about that.”

🛑 BIDEN CONSIDERS TOUGHER BORDER ACTIONS; TRUMP PLANS MILITARIZED DEPORTATION

BORDER CRISIS = POLITICAL ACTION
With the crisis at the US-Mexico border now the top issue for many voters, President Biden is considering going it alone— without Congress— on new measures to make it more difficult for people seeking asylum to be granted entry, and to quickly deport those who enter without meeting such criteria.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump is planning mass deportations, potentially through military force, and building more immigration detention space should he be re-elected in November, per the Washington Post.

HOW WE GOT HERE
The US-Mexico border saw record number of migrant crossings in recent months — since 2021, crossings have averaged 2 million per year, the highest level ever.

Biden has been criticized for not doing enough at the border and not providing enough assistance to cities across the US struggling to house and support the influx of migrants.
A group of senators recently unveiled a bipartisan compromise to strengthen the border and tighten immigration laws. It didn’t end up getting enough support from Republicans.

BIDEN PLAN: “LOW HANGING FRUIT”
Here’s what Biden is reportedly considering in terms of new border policy:

The measures aim to make it harder for migrants to pass the initial 'credible fear interviews,' which are the first screening given by asylum officers to migrants seeking to avoid deportation for illegally crossing the border.
The policy would also make it easier for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to quickly deport recently arrived migrants in a “last in, first out” measure.

These actions can be taken quickly and are considered “low hanging fruit,” but are still weeks away from being finalized. The White House maintains they need Congressional action because they are short on funds to deal with the border crisis.

TRUMP PLAN: OPERATION DEPORTATION
Trump is putting immigration and the border on center stage in his 2024 presidential campaign, the same way he did back in 2016 with promises to “build the wall.”

He said he would launch “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” pointing to an Eisenhower-era program that removed migrant workers using military tactics.
Advisors have also proposed building mass deportation camps.
On the campaign trail he has gotten pushback for saying migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and warning of an “invasion.”

THE NUMBERS
About 11 million migrants live in the US without legal status, 7 million of whom ICE tracks. About 1.3 million of the 7 million live in the US even though an immigration judge ordered their deportation.

Political unrest, poverty, drug trafficking, and climate disasters push many migrants to the US-Mexico border.

🔬 FDA APPROVES NEW CANCER TREATMENT

For the first time, the FDA approved a cellular therapy to treat solid cancerous tumors. The breakthrough therapy is called TIL, which stands for tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, and uses patients' immune cells used to fight the cancer.

The approval is only for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, which is expected to kill 8,290 people in 2024. However, experts say the treatment could eventually be used to fight other solid tumors, which make up 90% of all cancers.

HOW IT WORKS
TIL therapy works by extracting patients' T-cells directly from tumors and replicating them billions of times in a lab, then infusing them back into the patient. There’s only one treatment, but the entire process can take up to eight weeks.

The fast-tracked FDA approval is for Amtagvi from Iovance Biotherapeutics.
- 31.5% of patients responded to the treatment in Amtagvi’s phase 2 clinical trial. A larger phase 3 trial is next.
- NIH research on TIL therapy showed a 56% response rate for melanoma cases with 24% of patients having their melanoma completely disappear.
Big bucks: Before insurance or potential discounts, the treatment costs $515,000 per patient.

Cancer cells can eventually find a way to evade the TIL defenses. But, the treatment can be a long-last defense, as “immune cells stay in the body and live in the body for decades.”

NOTHING IS PERFECT
TIL therapy is similar to CAR-T cell therapy used for blood cancers. And like CAR-T the therapies don’t work for all patients and can increase their risk of infection due to temporary lowering of the immune system.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Presidential brother James Biden behind closed doors in critical interview with Republicans as GOP continues impeachment probe (CNN)

📌 GOP Freedom Caucus raises March 1 government shutdown risk (AXIOS)

📌 Oklahoma death of nonbinary student Nex Benedict after in-school fight prompts calls for answers (ABC NEWS)

📌 Biden administration cancels $1.2 billion in student loans of more than 150,000 borrowers under new plan (CNBC)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Honduran ex-president in court accused of leading 'narco-state' (BBC)

📌 Israel skips ICJ trial, but its advocates argue the ‘occupation’ isn’t illegal (TIMES OF ISRAEL)

📌 Alexei Navalny's mother files lawsuit for release of son's body (FOX NEWS)

📌 WikiLeaks’ Assange faces wait to find out whether he can challenge extradition to the U.S. (AP)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Boeing removes head of 737 Max program in wake of safety incidents (CNN)

📌 Neuralink's first human patient able to control computer mouse through thinking, Musk says (REUTERS)

📌 Beyond Meat revamps plant-based burger to boost weak sales (CNBC)

📌 Does beer before liquor actually make you sicker? (NY TIMES)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Beyoncé's 'Texas Hold 'Em' debuts at No. 1 on the country chart (NPR)

📌 Tiger Woods' son is taking his first step toward trying to play on the PGA Tour (PGA)

📌 Jimmy Kimmel hints at late night show exit: “I think this is my final contract” (DEADLINE)

📌 “Vibe is off:” People betting on Soho House’s collapse (NY POST)

📌 Financially struggling Met Opera’s 18 productions next season matches the fewest since 1980-81 (AP)

🗓 ON THIS DAY: FEBRUARY 22

1732: George Washington was born.
1977: The Eagles released “Hotel California.”
- Yesterday, a trial began in New York over the song’s handwritten lyrics that were reportedly stolen.
1980: The US hockey team beat the Soviets during 'The Miracle On Ice' at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
1997: Dolly the sheep was born, the first clone of an adult mammal, at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, Scotland.
2004: The series finale of ‘Sex and the City’ airs.