Clouds and silver linings

The silver: Covid-19 infections in the U.S. are at their lowest level since March 2020. They’re down about 30 percent from the previous week.

The cloud: By the time you read this, more than 600,000 Americans will have died from the coronoavirus — that is more than the population of Atlanta.

None dare call it Lamarckism

Researchers at the University of Toronto and Florida State have found that guppies given methylphenidate are not only affected by it, they pass those effects to their offspring. In fact, they pass it at least three generations down the line.

The researchers say the paternal effect of behavioural change may be transmitted to descendants via non-genetic modifications to the sperm of male ancestors exposed to Ritalin. Such molecular changes that don’t affect DNA are a potential mechanism for males to transmit information about their environment – including exposure to drugs or pollutants — to future offspring.

Of course, Lamarck didn’t say anything about traits being passed down via DNA, just that parents can pass on physical characteristics obtained during life. But still, let’s file this under “epigenetics.”

Today’s facepalm

So you know that bacteriophages are viruses that kill bacteria. They’re one of the ways we might be able to overcome antibacterial resistance.

But what if — and this is a scary thought — there were bacteria that were immune to phages? Luckily there aren’t, and the only way we could get one is if some idiots decided to build one.

On Thursday, [a] group of researchers at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology reported in Science that with continued tinkering, they’ve made [an] artificial life form virtually invincible to viral infection.

And if that’s not enough, these chuckleheads, who obviously have never read a drop of science-fiction, went further:

Other adjustments to the bacteria’s designer genome endowed the bug with the ability to string together non-natural amino acids to produce proteins never before seen inside a living cell.

“Don’t worry, the lab is secure. We’ve got, like, a deadbolt lock we almost always use*.”

* Not a real quote. I hope.

Treating dry eyes…

…via the nose. Heck, why not? A new nasal spray — Oyster Point Pharma’s varenicline — worked well at treating dry eyes in a phase-3 study.

How does it work? It’s obvious when the lead researcher explains it:

“[It’s a] highly selective nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist that activates the trigeminal parasympathetic pathway that stimulates the lacrimal functional unit to reestablish the natural tear film.”

When psychotropics backfire

Typically, when you give someone a medication, the idea is that it will help with their ‘problem’ — not make it worse. And yet an article in The American Journal of Psychiatry explains that many psychotropic medications can make schizophrenia worse because they “also have anticholinergic properties and inhibit acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter critical for brain signaling.”

“Brain health in schizophrenia is a game of inches, and even small negative effects on cognitive functioning through anticholinergic medication burden may have large impacts on patients’ lives.”

An herbal treatment for Covid

You can’t really laugh at herbal or traditional medicines because there’s a good chance they were chosen for a reason. (Looking at you, willow bark.) So biologists at George Mason University decided to see if an herbal drink called “Respiratory Detox Shot*” that contains “nine herbal ingredients traditionally used in Eastern medicine” could affect … I dunno, pick a respiratory disease in the news.

Lo and behold, it seemed to work. No, it’s not a cure, but whatever was in that RDS…

…inhibited the infection of target cells by SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses and by infectious wild-type SARS-CoV-2. Their results suggest that RDS might broadly inhibit respiratory viruses, such as influenza.

Right now it’s strictly lab work, and chances are your local hospital won’t be administering it any time soon. But it does tell us that there’s an avenue to explore, especially if they can isolate the chemicals involved.

*You’re allowed to laugh at the overused word “detox”.

A chemical treatment for Covid

Meanwhile, an international team of researchers looking at existing-drug treatments for Covid-19 found a combo that worked well to suppress the disease: cepharanthine and nelfinavir. Both are already FDA-approved individually, so some more testing might make this a good tool to have.

Plus: Does not use the phrase “game changer.”

Minus: Does call it “Dream team.”

The Long Read: Brains and other bits

Gentlemen, the next time a woman makes a snide remark about ‘where you’re thinking from,’ tell her, “Didn’t you read ‘The Long Read’ in GPhA Buzz about that paper published by the Royal Society?”

It seems when it comes to proteins, men’s bodies have some unexpected similarities.