Fixing Every Muscle

Return to main article:

The article “Mother Courage: A family tragedy and a scientific crusade,” by John Colapinto, in the December 20, 2010, issue of the New Yorker (www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/12/20/ 101220fa_fact_colapinto), describes Patricia Furlong’s efforts to raise public awareness of muscular dystrophy, and funding for research, and covers the trials of drugs designed to fight the disease. Both her sons were diagnosed with, and later died from, DMD. A cure is probably decades away. As Lee Sweeney, scientific advisor to Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, the foundation Furlong created, told Colapinto, “It’s not just fixing one muscle. It’s fixing every muscle in the body. That’s the problem. Getting the cells to the right place and then getting them to do the right thing—it’s a daunting engineering problem as much as anything else.”

Click here for the March-April 2011 issue table of contents

Most popular

House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

The University must turn over all requested materials related to tuition and financial aid by mid-July. 

Developing Dads

Exploring the evolutionary biology of human fathers as caretakers

The Power of Patience

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

Explore More From Current Issue

Garber, Trump, and the Fight for Harvard’s Future

Introducing a guide to the issues, players, and stakes.

A Look at Harvard’s Distinctive Doctoral Regalia

On regalia, a Jack-of-all-trades retirement, and a Bok’s office bon mot.

Can an Orange a Day Stave off Depression?

A research study digs into the gut microbiome.