Grant L. Hughes

TL;DR: The GenOMICC (Genetics Of Mortality In Critical Care) genome-wide association study in 2244 critically ill Covid-19 patients from 208 UK intensive care units is reported, finding evidence in support of a causal link from low expression of IFNAR2, and high expression of TYK2, to life-threatening disease.

TL;DR: Although not virulent in non-bloodfed mosquitoes, wMelPop exhibits a novel phenotype and is extremely virulent for approximately 12–24 hours post-bloodmeal, after which surviving mosquitoes exhibit similar mortality trajectories to control mosquitoes, suggesting that if stable transinfections act in a similar manner to somatic infections, Wolbachia could potentially be used as part of a strategy to control the Anopheles mosquitoes that transmit malaria.

TL;DR: Recent achievements in the field of mosquito-Wolbachia symbiosis with an emphasis on Aedes albopictus are presented and how Wolbachian symbiosis can be harnessed for vector control as well as the potential to combine the sterile insect technique and Wolbachia-based approaches for the enhancement of population suppression programs are discussed.

TL;DR: A large-scale study to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection in 919 companion animals living in northern Italy, sampled at a time of frequent human infection, finds no animals tested PCR positive and dogs from COVID-19 positive households are significantly more likely to test positive than those from CO VID-19 negative households.

TL;DR: The native microbiota of Anopheles impede vertical transmission of Wolbachia, and the bacterium Asaia was significantly reduced by antibiotic treatment in both mosquito species, suggesting that microbial interactions profoundly affect the host, and that microbiome incompatibility may influence distribution of Wolachia in arthropods.