NMR studies reveal that formaldehyde, a toxic pollutant and metabolite, reacts with nucleotides to form N-hydroxymethylated adducts of varying stabilities.

he increase in antibiotic resistance raises concerns that, at least in some regions, we are returning to a pre-antibiotic era, in particular for Gram-negative infections. The increased prevalence of extended-spectrum serine-β-lactamases (SBLs) and metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) means β-lactams are increasingly ineffective in treating Gram-negative infections 1,2 . The advent of mobilized colistin resistance-1 in 2015 3 and transferable tigecycline resistance genes (tetX3-tetX5) in 2019 4 , which mediate resistance to colistin and tigecycline, respectively, means all clinically vital antibiotics for serious Gram-negative infections are compromised.

Our findings are consistent with previous reports that homozygous mutations in FTO can lead to rare growth retardation and developmental delay syndrome, and further support the proposal that FTO plays an important role in early development of human central nervous and cardiovascular systems.