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LONDON (AP) — The international scientists dispatched to China by the World Health Organization to find out where the coronavirus came from said Wednesday the search has stalled and warned that the window of opportunity for solving the mystery is “closing fast.”

Meanwhile, a U.S. intelligence review ordered up by President Joe Biden proved inconclusive about the virus’s origin, including whether it jumped from an animal to a human or escaped from a Chinese lab, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

In a commentary published in the journal Nature, the WHO-recruited experts said the origins investigation is at “a critical juncture” requiring urgent collaboration but has instead come to a standstill. They noted among other things that Chinese officials are still reluctant to share some raw data, citing concerns over patient confidentiality.

Earlier this year, WHO sent a team of experts to Wuhan, where the first human COVID-19 cases were detected

Daniel’s birth certificate is marked “female,” but Daniel is nonbinary — not exclusively male nor female. “I’m masculine leaning,” says the 18-year-old.

The disconnect between Daniel’s gender identity and physical appearance, which was apparent to them around age 4, became unbearable during puberty. “I hated showers because I didn’t like looking at my body,” Daniel says. “I just felt really uncomfortable with the idea of being female.” At 13, Daniel came out to their mother as transgender, someone whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth.

About a month after coming out, Daniel started seeing a therapist who specialized in gender identity. A year later they were referred to an endocrinologist, who prescribed the sex hormone testosterone. For Daniel, the most important effect was a deeper voice. “My biggest problem with getting misgendered was that my voice was really high,” Daniel says.

Before starting hormone

WINTERVILLE, N.C. – Pitt Community College has launched a new pilot program to help Pitt County high school students explore and engage with health sciences curricula throughout their senior year.

The PCC Health Sciences Scholars (HSS) program, according to PCC Health Information Technology (HIT) Program Director Ashleigh Walker, is intended to help prospective students better prepare for health sciences enrollment. She said students selected for HSS will have four program options to choose from HIT, Emergency Medical Science, Medical Assisting, and Respiratory Therapy.

“PCC Health Sciences Dean Donna Neal envisioned the Health Sciences Scholars program as a way to engage local high school students with some of our health sciences curricula and help them prepare for entry to those programs, which often have special admissions requirements,” Walker said. “Students

The natural immune protection that develops after a SARS-CoV-2 infection offers considerably more of a shield against the Delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus than two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a large Israeli study that some scientists wish came with a “Don’t try this at home” label. The newly released data show people who once had a SARS-CoV-2 infection were much less likely than never-infected, vaccinated people to get Delta, develop symptoms from it, or become hospitalized with serious COVID-19.

The study demonstrates the power of the human immune system, but infectious disease experts emphasized that this vaccine and others for COVID-19 nonetheless remain highly protective against severe disease and death. And they caution that intentional infection among unvaccinated people would be extremely risky. “What we don’t want people to say is: ‘All right, I should go out and get infected, I should have an infection party,’”

After Russell Jordan sent a stool sample through the mail to the microbiome company Viome, his idea of what he should eat shifted. The gym owner in Sacramento, California, had always consumed large quantities of leafy greens. But the results from the test—which sequenced and analyzed the microbes in a pea-sized stool sample—recommended he steer clear of spinach, kale, and broccoli.

“Things I’ve been eating for the better part of 30 years,” said Jordan, 31. “And it worked.” Soon, his mild indigestion subsided. He recommended the product to his girlfriend.

She took the test in late February, when the company—which sells its “Gut Intelligence” test for $129 and a more extensive “Health Intelligence” test, which requires a blood sample, for $199—began experiencing hiccups. Viome had promised results within four weeks once the sample arrived at a testing facility, but Jordan said his girlfriend has been waiting more than five months