Letting go

Letting my daughter go.

I always knew Daisy would die before reaching adulthood. She was my fourth child, born prematurely in December 2004 with a severe form of rare genetic condition called Costello syndrome. Daisy required complex care, but every decision about her care was made on the basis of improving the quality of her life, which meant helping her do the things she loved, such as being at home with her family,...

Lengthening without letting go

erotelic chromosome attachments present the cell with a particularly threatening scenario. With a single kinetochore attached to both spindle poles, the tension on this kinetochore ensures that no error message is sent out, as would be the case with a detached kinetochore. Most researchers presumed that the relatively lower tension on the " incorrect " attachment (the one that is relieved by th...

The fine art of letting go.

May 22, 2006 issue Imagine tears, lots of tears. Imagine a trail of tears trickling across upstate New York. Judie Comerford and her husband, Michael, are in their minivan on a highway somewhere between Potsdam and their home in Buffalo. They've just bid farewell to their oldest child, Meghan, who's starting college. "I cried, and then I cried some more, and then I cried again," Judie recalls. ...

Tetherin: Holding On and Letting Go

Mammalian cells are equipped with so-called "restriction factors" that suppress virus replication and help to prevent virus transmission from one species to another. This Essay discusses the host restriction factor tetherin, which blocks the release of enveloped viruses like HIV-1, and the factors evolved by primate lentiviruses, such as Vpu and Nef, that antagonize tetherin's action.

Mom, Alzheimer's and the ethics of letting go.