There’s plenty of them: Francis Wheen, AA Gill, Victor Lewis Smith, Lynn Barber, the list goes on – all the pygmies of poison who take their own disappointed lives out on you I don’t really hate them. I just look forward to their slow, painful deaths.How much did you draw on your own experiences for Man and Boy? Which episode in Man and Boy do you wish had been drawn from real life?Karen Pearl, ChichesterThe book is split pretty evenly between experience and imagination. The bit I wish was from real life? The happy ending.’Man and Wife’ is published this week in paperback by HarperCollins, priced £6.99. SCientists Have discovered the Achilles’ heel of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes which could lead to the invention of new pesticides to wipe out the carrier of malaria, yellow fever and other dangerous diseases. Normally the enzyme, called acetylcholinesterase, mops up a neurotransmitter that causes a nerve impulse to jump from one cell to another, so the enzyme prevents the over-stimulation of nerves. Organophosphates – which are effectively nerve agents – work by binding to acetylcholinesterase thereby blocking the enzyme’s activity and preventing the removal of spare neurotransmitter, which quickly kills the insect.Dr Weill and her colleagues show in a study published today in the journal Nature that the mutation in the Ace-1 gene of resistant mosquitoes prevents organophosphates from binding to the acetylcholinesterase, rendering the insecticides redundant. Dr Weill said: “We found the target for insecticides and we found the mutation that makes them resistant.

There is resistance almost everywhere and this is a big problem. Our identification of this mutation may pave the way for designing new insecticides and opens the way to new strategies for pest management.”Dr Weill said by knowing how a change in the mosquito’s DNA results in the emasculation of organophosphate pesticides, scientists will be able to screen for chemicals that can work against the mutated form of the gene, overcoming the problem of resistance She said: “This is really crucial There are not many other ways to combat malaria. Vaccines are still years away so the only way we can fight the disease it to limit the number of mosquitoes.”The Montpellier team found the mutation was present in all 10 highly resistant strains of Culex pipiens, the species that transmits West Nile fever, as well as a resistant strain of the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae.. A primary school headteacher was told yesterday he could carry on working even though he admitted encouraging his pupils to cheat in national curriculum tests. More than 600,000 11-year-olds are due to sit this summer’s tests next week.The hearing was told that Mr Hopkins had allowed some of his pupils to change their answers after last year’s maths test.

He also gave some children extra time to complete the science test and let pupils who had not yet finished the paper mix with others who had completed it.He resigned after the scandal emerged. The reason was so the children could achieve what I knew they were capable of.”In a statement, Mr Hopkins said he fully accepted the ruling but argued that his case highlighted the stress headteachers were under.. Ryan Bell was undoubtedly carrying the hopes of a generation of underprivileged teenagers on his shoulders when he was placed within one of the most exclusive public schools in the country. The school has been good to him,” said a family friend.Dom Leo Maidlow Davis, headmaster of Downside, explained: “Together with six other boys, Ryan Bell was involved in the purchase and drinking of spirits on the afternoon of Sunday 4 May.