Researchers have discovered two genes, RNF144B and ENPP1, that cause calcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD) disease in Americans of European and African descent. This crystalline arthritis is caused by calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) crystal deposition in joints. The findings of this novel study open up promising new avenues for targeted prevention and treatment of CPPD disease, which are currently lacking.

Researchers compared the whole genome sequence of two genetically distinct lineages of bed bug, and their findings indicate bed bugs may well be the first true urban pest.

Obesity is a global health problem that affects many people. In recent years, very promising anti-obesity drugs have been developed. Despite these successes, there are patients who do not respond to these drugs or suffer from side effects. Therefore, there is still an unmet need for therapies. Researchers have now discovered a small group of nerve cells in the hypothalamus of mouse brains that influence eating behavior and weight gain. This discovery could pave the way for the development of new targeted anti-obesity drugs.

Close to five million smuggled seahorses worth an estimated CAD$29 million were seized by authorities over a 10-year span, according to a new study that warns the scale of the trade is far larger than current data suggest. The study analyzed online seizure records from 2010 to 2021 and found smuggling incidents in 62 countries, with dried seahorses, widely used in traditional medicine, most commonly intercepted at airports in passenger baggage or shipped in sea cargo.

An analysis of data from a national health survey conducted before the pandemic found that pizza, soup and chicken are some of the main sources of sodium (salt) intake for people in all racial and ethnic groups. The study also showed clear differences among adults based on race and ethnicity.

Researchers have discovered that the combination of the two cancer drugs Rapamycin and Trametinib significantly extends the lifespan of mice. This therapy shows greater effects than the individual drugs and offers not only a longer lifespan, but also health benefits in old age. The results suggest that this drug combination could be a promising strategy for combating age-related diseases and promoting longevity.

Parasitic worms that infect humans are not interbreeding with those that infect cattle as previously thought. This is good news for when it comes to controlling schistosomiasis, a disease caused by these worms that affects more than 200 million people globally.

The protein DNase1 is one of the oldest biological agents in history: It has been on the market since 1958 and is now used, among other things, to treat cystic fibrosis. However, it takes considerable effort to produce it in immortalized hamster cells. This process is also costly. It would be far more cost-effective to produce it with undemanding yeast cells.

Former EastEnders actress Kara Tointon has revealed she has undergone a double mastectomy following a gene test.The 41-year-old, also known for her work in dramas including The Teacher and Mr Selfridge, revealed that tests showed she carried the BRCA gene – which can put her at very high risk of cancer. Tointon, from Basildon in Essex, posted an Instagram video on Wednesday to raise awareness of the preventative measure she had taken.She said: “You may have heard of the BRCA genes 1 and 2 and as a carrier it means I am at a greater risk of both breast and ovarian cancer.”In 2018, the soap star said she was asked to take a genetics test when her mother Carol was undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer. She is working with gynaecological cancer charity the Eve Appeal, of which she is an ambassador.”There is a history of both cancers in my family on my mother’s side, but for various reasons, including generational trauma of which I’ll talk more about another time, we hadn’t looked into it until that point,” she said. “But it was put to us, we took the test, and it was confirmed that my mum and I both carried the gene.” Ms Tointon’s mother died in 2019.”Last year, having had my second son in 2021 and deciding that our family was complete, I underwent two preventative surgeries,” she said.”The first a double mastectomy and the second a two-part protector study, a trial.”They believe that ovarian cancer begins in the fallopian tubes so by removing them first, checking them out, you then remove the ovaries later, and closer to menopause,” she added. Hollywood star Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy after she discovered she carried the BRCA1 gene, leading to greater awareness of the gene defect.Around one in 1,000 women across the UK have a BRCA1 variant, but most breast and ovarian cancers happen due to chance damage to genes.After several tests, including biopsies and MRIs, Tointon said: “I decided that this was the right decision for me and my family.”It wasn’t an easy decision, but one I’m very glad and lucky I made, and I can now, with hindsight, talk about it properly.”

If the UK had spent more money helping people to self-isolate during the pandemic then fewer people would have been infected or died, the former head of NHS Test and Trace has said.Baroness Dido Harding, who was in charge of the programme in England, told the Covid inquiry she repeatedly argued to increase financial support, but was “frustrated” by the response of then chancellor, Rishi Sunak.”There was an intransigence that I think was very sad,” she said in her evidence.On 28 September 2020, the government did bring in a £500 self-isolation payment for low income workers on state benefits who were told to stay at home after being in contact with an infected person.A parallel scheme of discretionary payments was set up by some local authorities to support those outside the welfare system.In her evidence, Baroness Harding said the UK spent proportionally “much less than other developed countries enabling disadvantaged people to self-isolate”.”If we had allocated more of the NHS Test and Trace budget to isolation support, I strongly suspect that fewer would have died and infection rates would have been lower with all the benefits that would have brought,” she said in her witness statement.”It’s certainly the thing that I wished I had succeeded in persuading ministers to do,” she added in the hearing.”But I wasn’t the decision maker. The decision maker in this was the chancellor and at every opportunity, from June [2020] onwards, the chancellor rejected the proposals.”Last week, the inquiry was shown private diary entries written by the government’s then chief scientific adviser, Lord Patrick Vallance.He wrote at the time that it was the “instinct” of policy makers to use the “stick” of enforcement and fines to convince people to self-isolate, rather than the “carrot” of financial support favoured by the government’s science advisers.After one meeting, on 27 July 2020, he wrote: “Dido [Harding] pushed to get financial support for people to get tested in low socio-economic groups.”Rishi [Sunak] reacted strongly to that and said basically: ‘Just stop the social interactions.'”Baroness Harding, a former retail and telecoms executive who was appointed to lead the test and trace system in May 2020, said data in the first year of the pandemic suggested individuals were not being tested because they were “scared of the consequences of isolation”.”To be honest, it was intensely frustrating,” she told the inquiry, adding that she found reading messages from the time “quite distressing”.”We did try really hard to persuade ministers that [increased financial support] would be a good thing, not just for the individual wellbeing of those disadvantaged people, but also economically, as this was one of the ways you could have less economic harm for the country as a whole,” she added.She said she felt chancellor Rishi Sunak had rejected her arguments as a “point of principle” because he did not want to create what could be seen as a new welfare benefit.”I don’t think there was any amount of data and analysis that I could have put that would have changed his mind,” she said.”I think you can hear my frustration as I say it.”Rishi Sunak has not been called to give evidence to this three-week section of the Covid inquiry, which is looking at testing, contact tracing and isolation policies.But, last week, Dan York-Smith, a senior civil servant in the Treasury, said a number of economic measures were brought in to support workers, including extensions to statutory sick pay and the furlough scheme.He said the chancellor was particularly worried about creating “perverse intensives” which might have increased the risks of fraud, or meant some workers could be paid more to self-isolate than in wages.