The Know Daily - Tuesday 13 June 2023

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Two critically endangered Sumatran tiger cubs were caught on camera having a “splashing great time” in their private paddling pool at London Zoo earlier this week. Cubs Crispin and Zac are part of a global breeding programme designed to protect and boost the species’ number, with fewer than 600 Sumatran tigers thought to remain in the wild.

📣 Calls for abortion law reform

The chair of the Commons equalities committee has called for parliament to debate reforming abortion rules after a woman was jailed for taking pills to end her pregnancy after the legal cut-off.

What’s the story?
Carla Foster, 44, received a sentence of 28 months (14 of which will be spent in custody) at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court yesterday. The mother-of-three acquired the medication via the government’s “pills by post” scheme which was introduced during lockdown for unwanted pregnancies of up to 10 weeks. Abortion is legal for up to 24 weeks. Doctors concluded that Foster was 32 to 34 weeks pregnant at the time.

In court, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) argued that Foster had been aware of abortion limits and provided false information during a remote medical consultation. Her defence said that lockdown had changed access to healthcare.

What does the law say?
Foster pleaded guilty to an offence under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. “Under the Victorian era law, women ‘who use drugs or instruments’ that are ‘unlawfully administered’ to cause an abortion can be ‘kept in penal servitude for life’, meaning that they can face life imprisonment,” the BBC explained.

How have campaigners responded?
Abortion providers, campaigners and politicians have expressed outrage over the sentencing and called for abortion care in the UK to be immediately decriminalised.

“It is neither a compassionate nor a proportionate response to send someone to prison for ending their pregnancy,” one doctor from abortion provider MSI Reproductive Choices told The Independent.

And Caroline Nokes, chair of the equalities committee, told BBC Radio 4’s World Tonightprogramme that MPs should "decide in the 21st Century whether we should be relying on legislation that is centuries old".

What happens next?
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson said he was "not aware" of any government plans to change abortion laws.

A march calling for abortion law reform will be taking place in London from 1pm this Saturday.

🐂 Could taurine be the secret to slower ageing?

A new study has found that taurine - a nutrient found in meat and fish, which is added to certain energy drinks - extends life and boosts health in some animals. Researchers have said it may be an “elixir of life” - but could it have the same impact on humans?

What did the study show?
Researchers at Columbia University analysed the blood of various species to explore the differences between young and old, and found that levels of taurine dwindled significantly with age.

Experiments on middle-aged animals - including worms, mice and monkeys - showed that boosting taurine back to youthful levels extended life by over 10% and improved the creatures’ physical and brain health.

Why is taurine so beneficial?
The study suggests that taurine plays a role in reducing cellular senescence - one of several hallmarks of ageing whereby cells in the body stop dividing. But while taurine appears to promote cells’ survival, the mechanism by which this occurs remains unknown.

What could this mean for humans?
Researchers analysed the blood of 12,000 people and found that those with higher taurine levels were generally in better health. They suggested that if the data from mice was applied to people, it would be the equivalent of an extra seven or eight years of life.

But scientists have stressed that proper clinical trials are needed to see whether the same benefit can be detected in humans - so we shouldn’t be rushing out to buy taurine supplements or energy drinks containing the amino acid in an attempt to live longer just yet.

What’s the bigger picture?
Over the past few decades, more and more research projects have begun looking at ways to slow ageing.

“Scientists worldwide have intensified efforts to develop interventions that combat the decline in health that comes with old age,” said Nature. “The study could offer a starting point for future research into treatments that help people to stay healthy and live longer.”

📝 Partygate report: MPs investigating whether Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament over lockdown gatherings have concluded that - despite his claims - the former PM was not advised that social-distancing guidelines had been followed. The full report is expected this week.

🛒 BOGOF ban gets go-ahead: The government has confirmed that a controversial banon buy-one-get-one-free junk food deals is set to go ahead later this year in a bid to tackle obesity.

📈 Record pay rises: Regular pay (excluding bonuses) in the UK rose by 7.2% per yearfrom February-April, up from 6.6% in November-January, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics. This was driven in part by a rise in the minimum wage in April.

👏 Righting historic wrongs: Women who were convicted of offences related to a same-sex activity before homosexuality was decriminalised can apply to have their convictions removed under an expansion of the government’s Disregards and Pardons Scheme.

🤯 Stranger than fiction: A woman in Ecuador was found breathing in her coffin at her own funeral. She had been declared dead the week before following a suspected stroke.

Trivia answer: C) 2,143 couples tied the knot at the same time during a mass wedding ceremony. They broke the record for the largest number of people married within a 12-hour period.

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