<img alt=“Cleopatra.jpg” src=“https://blogs.nature.com/nm/spoonful/Cleopatra.jpg” width=“188” height=“250” align=“right” border=0 hspace=“10px”/>

— Cocaine is known to mess with the mind and the body, but now researchers have found that it also messes with a particular gene. Among mice, cocaine repressed the 9A gene, which encodes an enzyme that would otherwise shut off the brain’s pleasure centers, leading to addiction. (Reuters)

— We may be living in an age of viral news and videos, but the human genome went viral long before, according to a new study. Inserted material derived from a non-retroviral RNA virus called bornavirus — the culprit behind an 1885 epidemic among horses — accounts for 8% of the human genome sequence, researchers report. (ScienceDaily)

— The US Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to build a national claims database for comparative effectiveness research. While systems currently exist for Medicaid and Medicare, the new system, funded by the federal stimulus package, would also track private insurance claims. (AMNews)

— Beneath all of Cleopatra’s heavy eye makeup might have been an especially healthy pair of peepers, according to French researchers. The Egyptian pharaoh’s black eye makeup — based on a rare mineral called laurionite — likely contained lead salts that produced nitric oxide, which can boost the immune system against bacterial infections. (BBC)

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