Biomedicine & Disease
Genetically modified pigs livers could save human lives. Here’s how
Organ transplants save lives, but specimens from the right donors are in short supply, and scientists are searching for more ...
Video: 10 of the most prominent anti-vaccine celebrities, from Jim Carrey to Jenny McCarthy
Why do many celebrities reject science? Watch the video below to find out which Hollywood stars are anti-vaccine. 1. Jenna ...
Weight-loss drugs, malaria vaccines and more: CRISPR innovations headline the science breakthroughs of 2023
CRISPR is the year’s top breakthrough not only because of heroic work done in the past 12 months, but also ...
Viewpoint: Here’s what happens when legislators pander to activists by over-regulating science and medical practice in an ill-advised effort to ‘protect the public’
It is bad enough when unqualified pundits offer dumb opinions about science, but bad legislation can cause real damage. The COVID ...
When will needle-free COVID vaccines arrive in the US?
Vaccines delivered through the nose or mouth should help stop infection where it begins. But researchers are still working to ...
‘We’ve got miraculous therapies for ‘bubble boy disease’ that don’t fit in anyone’s business model’: Mainstream care elusive for most patients because of high costs
Hataałii Tiisyatonii “HT” Begay was born with a form of severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID, which meant he had virtually ...
Personalized precision medicine revolution is proceeding more slowly than hoped. Here’s why
The term 'personalized medicine' has gained traction, but what is it, does it help and are there concerns that need ...
First CRISPR drug: UK approves Casgevy to prevent pain from sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia
The gene-editing therapy Casgevy uses Crispr to prevent debilitating pain in patients with sickle cell disease ...
Here’s the straight poop about fecal transplants
Fecal transplants carry a certain ick factor for many people. But there is a legitimate medical use for them -- ...
Video: Viewpoint: Vaccine denialist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s growing strength in presidential polls is ‘best showing for polio since Franklin Roosevelt,’ jokes Sarah Silverman
A new poll pits Kennedy, Trump, and Biden in a three-way race for the presidency — the "worst three way ...
In medical first, man paralyzed by Parkinson’s can walk after spinal implant
The implant delivers bursts of electrical signals, stimulating his spinal cord to make his leg muscles move ...
Genetic research equity: Why researchers are sequencing genomes of 500,000 people of African ancestry
The $80 million effort will provide researchers at U.S. HBCUs and African institutions with exclusive access to the data ...
GLP podcast/video: BBC corrects botched organic farming report; Happy 41st birthday, GMO insulin! Scientific American a ‘scientific sewer’?
Facing intense criticism from experts, the BBC was pushed to correct a deeply misleading story about the benefits of organic ...
GLP podcast/video: ‘GMO’ probiotic may prevent hangovers; Surrogacy turns women into ‘children factories’? The case for drug patents
Biotech startup Zbiotics says its genetically engineered bacterium can reduce the risk of hangovers. Is there solid science behind the ...
CRISPR-based mosquito suppression system could reduce child mortality and aid economic development in Africa
Malaria remains one of the world’s deadliest diseases. Each year malaria infections result in hundreds of thousands of deaths, with ...
Biotechnology timeline: Humans have manipulated genes since the ‘dawn of civilization’
The history of biotechnology shows how humans have been manipulating nature for our benefit for a long time—and how modern ...
Unraveling the mystery of who gets lung cancer and why
Why do some heavy smokers never get lung cancer? And why do some people who never smoke get lung cancer? ...
In a surprise finding, HDL, so-called ‘good cholesterol’, linked to dementia
A study shows that so-called “good cholesterol” may not be as healthy as previously believed. ...
Heart from a genetically engineered pig transplanted into a human, for the second time
In a new test of xenotransplantation, a medical team at the University of Maryland Medical Center announced [September 22] that, for ...
With Nobel Prize in hand, mRNA set to revolutionize next generation vaccines and therapeutics
The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine honored two scientists whose research into messenger RNA (mRNA) technology paved the way ...
COVID vaccine rejectionism and IQ: Swedish study concludes that people with higher cognitive ability are more likely to embrace vaccinations
We examine the relationship between cognitive ability and prompt COVID-19 vaccination using individual-level data on more than 700,000 individuals in ...
Is it possible to create a computer copy of a human brain? Europe spent more than $600 million to find out
It took 10 years, around 500 scientists and some €600 million, and now the Human Brain Project — one of ...
Sheep bred to be pathogen-free protect farmers from disease and could be a source of customized human organ replacements
[Specific pathogen-free, or] SPF sheep sell for roughly $3,400 per head, compared to the $200 or so a sheep would ...
‘We’re reaching a significant inflection point in gene and cell therapy’: What’s the future for these exorbitantly expensive new drugs?
Get ready for a world of million-dollar drugs. Pricey gene therapies that could cure devastating genetic disorders in one fell ...
What do ‘non-identical’ identical twins have to do with COVID-19? Mutations!
Identical twins Stella and Desiree Vignes were born in 1938 in a Louisiana town so small that it wasn’t on ...
DNA arms race? How and why China is collecting genetic data from millions of people around the world
Most of Europe was in lockdown in April 2020 when a plane arrived in the Serbian capital bearing a well-timed ...
Treating mental health disorders: Is CRISPR a long-hoped-for silver bullet?
“I was born with the murder gene.” That’s the chilling statement in a true-life story featured in Esquire years ago ...