Health & Medicine
Why probiotics may or may not help you—and could even harm you
From pickles and candy bars to pills and protein powders, probiotics are touted as a health boon in all flavors ...
Confusion over the origins of smallpox vaccine could leave us ‘vulnerable to a future outbreak’
Not only is there the potential for smallpox (or at the very least, something very similar) to resurge, but unbeknownst ...
Why the promise of personalized medicine could fall short for minorities
African-Americans are underrepresented in large-scale genetic and neuroscience studies ...
Poppy genome reveals ‘bizarre’ biological errors that gave us ‘intoxicating medicines’
A series of bizarre events and biological errors over evolutionary history were responsible for the intoxicating medicines found inside the ...
Why those sleepless nights could increase your Alzheimer’s risk
New research suggests bad sleep causes a build-up of plaque associated with Alzheimer’s ...
Golden eagle genome gives conservation effort a ‘blueprint for life’
British scientists have made a breakthrough that could help safeguard the future of one of the world's most admired birds ...
Roundup in breast milk? Disturbing new details in the plot to discredit nutritionist Shelley McGuire
In July 2015, Michelle (Shelley) McGuire, a nutrition professor and lactation expert then at Washington State University (WSU), was targeted ...
Can artificial intelligence give us a more efficient health care system?
To understand the benefits that artificial intelligence can bring to the world of human medicine, consider the case of Ayako ...
New studies questioning safety of GMO corn ‘contain serious flaws,’ experts say
Two -omics studies on genetically modified maize and Roundup-fed rats, recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, contain serious flaws ...
DNA test could help people with severe food allergies avoid peanuts
For people with severe peanut allergies, eating even minuscule amounts of the legume can trigger anaphylaxis -- a life-threatening condition ...
Could artificial intelligence protect the world from humanity’s ‘shortsightedness’?
There are fears that tend to come up when people talk about futuristic artificial intelligence — say, one that could ...
80 percent of Americans prefer organic produce, but are they healthier for it?
A whopping 82.3 percent of American households stock up on organic food .... But what if everything we know—or think we know—about ...
Large drug trials are expensive and results often misleading. A new genetic tool might cure those problems.
[C]orrelation is not causation. The fact that two phenomena or trends are correlated in time does not mean one causes ...
23andMe study probes links between cannabis use and schizophrenia
There’s evidence of a connection between cannabis use and schizophrenia, but it’s unclear whether the drug leads to the disorder, ...
Delving into our complicated relationship with carbohydrates
The idea of controlling carbohydrate consumption has been bouncing around the world of diets and medicine for nearly 100 years ...
Podcast: Why glyphosate-cancer news stories could push consumers away from healthy foods
On [this] episode, we explore one of the most important topics in nutrition: produce and pesticides. Health experts, the government ...
Put down the glass of wine: There’s ‘no such thing’ as safe alcohol consumption
You don’t have to go far to find people, including doctors and researchers, who will argue that a little bit of ...
Modern cancer myths and the science behind them
Here are some modern myths about cancer. There have been worries about mobile phones causing cancer since the days of ...
All-veggie ‘Impossible burger’ targeted by PETA’s cancer claims
Imagine sinking your teeth into a nice, juicy hamburger. Then, imagine being told that the hamburger isn't made from beef ...
Anti-GMO ‘Russian trolls’ also spread vaccine myths on social media, study finds
A new study showing that Russian-linked trolls and social media bots have been heavily promoting misinformation on vaccines shows just how far ...
Artificial intelligence could manage our health. But can we trust it?
In May, [startup Beta Bionics] received Food and Drug Administration approval to start clinical trials on what it calls a “bionic pancreas ...
Gene silencing through RNA interference scores first drug approval
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first drug based on RNA interference (RNAi). Unlike media darlings gene therapy ...
Simulating near-death experiences with hallucinogenic drug DMT
Not everyone who is close to death—or thinks they are, at least—has a “near-death experience.” But those who do often ...
Talking Biotech: Artemisinin—the malaria treatment that could help prevent 400,000 deaths a year
University of York's Dr. Ian Graham joins Kevin Folta to discuss how the plant-derived compound artemesia could help beat back ...
Study shows link between autism and widely banned pesticide DDT
Mothers with high levels of the pesticide DDT in their blood during pregnancy are more likely to bear children who ...
Is it possible for tired people to ‘spread’ their misery to others?
[A] new study out of the University of California, Berkeley suggests that poor sleep can be a nightmare for our social lives ...
In wake of Environmental Working Group’s glyphosate-cereal report, Chicago day care bans Cheerios
A North American day care company with nine Chicago-area locations has stopped serving Cheerios in response to a recent report ...