Health & Medicine
Through the study and use of genetics, we can identify measures that could lead to the improvement of human health and wellness. These methods and procedures aim to prevent years of chronic disease and thousands of dollars in health care costs, and provide families and communities with knowledge of how to live healthier.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Video: Why infectious diseases are so troublesome for air travelers
When Emirates Flight EK203 landed at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport last September, it did not proceed to its ...
AI should make our lives better by 2030, though there are ‘problems to worry about’, Pew study suggests
The year is 2030, and artificial intelligence has changed practically everything. Is it a change for the better or has ...
Why the CDC’s opioid guidelines may be hurting patients in pain
Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published its guideline for prescribing opioids for chronic pain in March 2016, pain patients ...
Viewpoint: The problem with personalized medicine is that ‘statistics are being misinterpreted’
Personalized medicine aims to match individuals with the therapy that is best suited to them and their condition. Advocates proclaim ...
Can we control our dreams through gene therapy?
What drives our dreams? For most of human history, people thought dreams were supernatural--messages from the gods or visions of ...
Searching for keys to cancer resistance in the genome of giant tortoise Lonesome George
An international research team has discovered several variants in tortoise genomes that potentially affect six of the nine hallmarks of ...
We’ve long neglected the human virome—now we need to figure out what all those viruses do
A continuous war is fought on our body surfaces, and we haven’t a clue who’s winning ...
NIH blocks research using fetal tissue, prompting calls of ‘scientific censorship’
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have been ordered not to acquire new fetal tissue for their research since ...
Viewpoint: Science needs to embrace the difference between sex and gender—without abandoning the past
Lots of sites, including three scientific societies, have rejected the new Health and Human Services guidelines that provide a classification of ...
This gene gets blamed for migraines and a litany of other health issues. Reality is more complex
The story of the MTHFR gene shows that genetics is a probabilistic science ...
Video: Glyphosate and other health ‘boogeymen’ aren’t causing all diseases
Should John Oliver decide that he’s had enough, perhaps because generating sarcasm is exhausting, there is someone who can slip ...
Artificial placentas could transform research into miscarriages, still births and other pregnancy disorders
Scientists have grown “mini placentas” in a breakthrough that could transform research into the underlying causes of miscarriage, stillbirth and ...
Mitochondrial DNA can be passed on from fathers, too
You probably learned two things about mitochondria in high school biology. First, they’re the powerhouses of the cell. Second, you ...
Are dogs really all that smart? This study says ‘no’
If you are convinced your dog is a genius, you may be disappointed in the conclusions of a study just published ...
Transplanted uterus leads to successful birth of baby girl
A team of doctors in Brazil have announced a medical first that could someday help countless women unable to have ...
Viewpoint: Why we need to better understand sexual orientation, gender identity in autism
In contemporary media, portrayals of autistic people are typically stereotyped and conventional: heterosexual, cisgender and, more often than not, naïve ...
Viewpoint: Parents’ anti-GMO fervor just might contribute to children’s allergies
Eating organic and avoiding GMOs has no effect on food allergies. But the mentality underlying GMO avoidance and overly-protective parenting ...
Baboons given heart transplants from genetically engineered pigs—humans could be next
In four adjacent enclosures transplantation researcher Bruno Reichart kept four happy baboons. … Most importantly, he says, they were healthy ...
How Russian ‘disinformation’ could threaten our biosecurity
In a series of increasingly confrontational statements, Russia has suggested that the Pentagon is establishing a chain of bio-weapons labs ...
Are our microbes part of us? ‘Radical upgrade’ of evolutionary theory
Look closely enough at any plant or animal and you will discover a riot of bacteria, fungi and viruses forming ...
Targeting sperm in the quest for a contraceptive that doesn’t use hormones
Scientists are trying to create a new kind of contraception with a novel tactic: tangling up sperm so they can’t ...
Why did CNN interview the ‘food babe’ about the romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak?
The Food and Drug Administration’s urgent warning about a romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak left many Americans wondering .... what ...
Some animal species never get cancer. What can we learn from them?
The search for clues has led researchers to study animals who don’t develop cancer at all ...
GMOs 101: Experts break down the basics of crop biotechnology
An online search for “GMO” returns more than 88 million results — a tangled mess of frightening images, dense data, ...
Why some types of obesity are worse than others
Where you put on weight is as important as how much you put on ...
UN rejects gene drive moratorium, but agrees to some limits
Nations rejected a proposal to temporarily ban the release of organisms carrying gene drives — a genetic-engineering technology designed to ...
How tiny ‘organs-on-a-chip’ could transform medical research
Researchers have pioneered what may be the most accurate simulation of kidney function to-date ...
