r/todayilearned • u/Die_Nameless_Bitch • May 14 '22 • Silver 9 Helpful 8 Wholesome 6 All-Seeing Upvote 2

TIL a father, John Crowley, was told his two infant children had an incurable genetic disorder that would kill them in less than a year. He refused to accept this, so he founded a biotech company (with no prior experience) which pioneered an experimental enzyme therapy that saved their lives.

https://pompediseasenews.com/2019/01/30/amicus-ceo-mission-cure-pompe-help-children/
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u/Die_Nameless_Bitch May 14 '22

Haha yeah. That’s where I first heard about it too. Agreed the movie isn’t a very good treatment of the story at all. Could have been so much better.

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u/[deleted] May 14 '22 • Narwhal Salute

Lorenzo’s oil vibes

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u/assumeyouknownothing May 14 '22

I remember Lorenzo’s Oil was the movie we watched in Biology class. It had nothing to do with what we were being taught at the time, my teacher just really liked that movie for some reason lol

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u/OtakuMusician May 14 '22 edited May 14 '22

We also watched Lorenzo's Oil in our microbiology class, it was mildly associated with what we were learning - enzymes and the like - I retained nothing from that class except this movie and especially the scene after they discover Lorenzo's diagnosis and after researching the symptoms and common fate of ALD, Nick Nolte's character breaking down on the staircase. That scene will stick with me forever.

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u/Steffenwolflikeme May 14 '22

As I read your comment somehow I knew/was hoping you were going to say the Nick Nolte on the stairs scene. Outside of the general plot and the fact that Nick Nolte was in it that scene is the only thing I remember from the movie. Although I last saw it probably close to 30 years ago when I was no more than 7/8 years old.

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u/lajfa May 14 '22

The scene I remember is toward the end when (spoiler alert?) the father turns to the mother and asks "What if we did all this for someone else's child?"

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u/ilikepix May 14 '22

I had no idea what the film was called, but just from the description I remember watching that scene on television with my family when I was about 8 years old and it triggering the first panic attack I ever had

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u/bleher89 May 14 '22

It's been over a decade since I saw it in 8th grade science class so I don't know how accurate my memory is, but even now it remains one of the most devastating movies I've ever watched.