A scientific breakthrough not only promises faster testing for antimicrobial resistance, but also an ethical solution to the controversial issue of using rodents in research. University of Exeter scientists have created the world’s first genetically engineered wax moths – a development which could both accelerate the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and significantly reduce the need for mice and rats in infection research.

The legalisation of cannabis and the start of retail sales of the drug in the US are linked to both a rise in its recreational use and concurrent use of tobacco, as well as a fall in sole tobacco use, finds an analysis of health behavioural data, published online in the journal Tobacco Control.

Medical artificial intelligence (AI) is often described as a way to make patient care safer by helping clinicians manage information. A new study by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and collaborators confronts a critical vulnerability: when a medical lie enters the system, can AI pass it on as if it were true? Analyzing more than a million prompts across nine leading language models, the researchers found that these systems can repeat false medical claims when they appear in realistic hospital notes or social-media health discussions. The findings, published in the February 9 online issue of The Lancet Digital Health [10.1016/j.landig.2025.100949], suggest that current safeguards do not reliably distinguish fact from fabrication once a claim is wrapped in familiar clinical or social-media language.

Study of over 540,000 people suggests people with obesity are 70% more likely to be hospitalised or die from an infectious disease; people with the most severe obesity face three times the risk.

Applying these risk estimates to global data suggests obesity was linked to one in ten infection-related global deaths in 2023.However, authors highlight estimates of the global impact should be interpreted with caution.

The proportion of infection-related deaths associated with obesity differed between countries, with roughly one in six deaths in the UK an done in four deaths in the US.

Authors warn that given rising global obesity rates, the number of serious infections linked to obesity is likely to grow in the coming decades. 

Obesity significantly increases the risk of hospitalisation and death from most infectious diseases, including flu, COVID-19, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections and respiratory tract infections, suggests a study of 540,000 people published in The Lancet journal. 

Just over one in 10 deaths worldwide from a wide range of infectious diseases can be attributed to obesity, finds a major new study led by a University College London (UCL) researcher.

UC Irvine scientists used directed evolution to engineer a DNA polymerase that can quickly and accurately produce RNA, overcoming a fundamental limitation of natural enzymes.

The new enzyme, C28, synthesizes RNA with high fidelity, supports long sequences, and enables reverse transcription and DNA-RNA amplification, expanding experimental capabilities.

The National Science Foundation supported the research.