One of the promises of the Human Genome Project –which was published 25 years ago this year– was that our genome would allow us to predict what we are like and what we will get sick from. The predictions of the 1990s, when the project began, were very optimistic and perhaps to some extent naive, because genetic information is not linear or simple, but complex, with many levels of regulation and interaction. Furthermore, environmental factors must also be taken into account, including diet, exercise, stress, and also, very importantly, the history of diseases and infections throughout life, which impacts our long-term health.

It is the first antibiotic created in three decades and could help combat the global rise of one of the world's most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Gepotidacin, an antimicrobial approved for use in urinary tract infections, has been shown to control the Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that causes gonorrhea. Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted that the origin of gonorrhea is a priority pathogen for the scientific community, both due to its rapid spread and because it is capable of evading the antibiotic effects of first-line treatment with cephalosporins, macrolides (such as the famous azithromycin), and influenza. Last year alone, gonorrhea caused 82 million new cases in people between 15 and 49 years of age worldwide.

The spread of monkeypox continues unchecked: in just one month the number of infections has doubled in Catalonia and Spain. International health authorities have already declared the simultaneous outbreaks last May in the United Kingdom as a public health emergency, but the real and future behaviour of the virus remains an unknown for experts, who dare not predict how many people may catch it nor what health consequences may result from the contagions. Spain is the European country which has detected the most cases (4,900) with the Madrid region leading the way (1,817). It has also reported two deaths (two men in their 30s in Andalusia and the Valencian Country). These are, so far, the only deaths in Europe linked to the virus. The trickle of cases coincides with a stagnation in the production of vaccines, which delays the prevention and protection strategy for the most vulnerable groups, and also with a shortage of some antiviral treatments given exceptionally to hospital patients in a serious condition (2.8% of diagnoses).