Health & Medicine
Why our bodies prefer natural sugar to artificial sweeteners
Your taste buds may or may not be able to tell real sugar from a sugar substitute like Splenda, but ...
Viewpoint: Will successful GMO pig heart and kidney transplants challenge anti-biotechnology mindsets?
What if pigs were to grow hearts and save human lives? This dream became a reality earlier this month when ...
‘Golden blood’ is incredibly important to medicine — but for the 43 people worldwide known to have it, it poses a unique danger
Golden blood is actually the nickname for Rh-null, the world’s rarest blood type. As Mosaic reported, the type is so rare that ...
A highly effective sports performance enhancing drug is…. caffeine
Late last year, a team of scientists from Brazil published the results of a study exploring the effects of a ...
Going bald? Scientists have reprogrammed cells to grow hair on mice. Are humans next?
Biologists at several startups are applying the latest advances in genetic engineering to the age-old problem of baldness, creating new ...
Removing cataracts appears to reduce the risk of dementia
Undergoing cataract removal was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia among older adults, according to a new study, ...
Current wave of Omicron infections likely to blunt severity of COVID in months ahead
A strong wave of coronavirus infections driven by the omicron variant could hasten the end of pandemic disruptions as it ...
‘Foundations of lifelong health’ are built in early childhood — and racial inequality plays a huge part
The scientific evidence is crystal clear: Early experiences literally shape the architecture of the developing brain.... But here’s something that’s ...
Quest for agelessness: A host of drugs and therapies are under review, but expectations are low
Will people eventually routinely live—and live healthily—longer? That’s the vision of the burgeoning field of aging research, where scientists are ...
Transgender people who start transitioning as teenagers have better mental health, study finds
For transgender people, starting gender-affirming hormone treatment in adolescence is linked to better mental health than waiting until adulthood, according ...
Viewpoint: When it comes to chemical safety, there’s a difference between ‘movie science’ and the real thing
I loved the movie Erin Brockovich played by Julia Roberts who played a lawyer’s assistant fighting the interplay of corporate greed ...
Tempted to try to get Omicron to ‘just get it over with’? Here’s why that’s problematic
With growing evidence that the omicron variant likely causes milder disease, some people may be thinking: Why not encourage omicron to ...
‘Double sleeping’: Did the industrial revolution end humans’ proclivity to sleep in two shifts?
In the 17th Century, a night of sleep went something like this. From as early as 21:00 to 23:00, those ...
Podcast: Here’s the case for optimism even as COVID infection rates soar
On average, the U.S. is tallying nearly 500,000 new COVID cases a day. [January 3], the U.S. hit yet another ...
Olympics threat? Omicron and other COVID variants surge across China on cusp of Winter Games
Throughout the pandemic, authorities have been especially protective of Beijing since it is the seat of government and home to ...
Olive oil and disease: Another study reaffirms daily consumption helps stave off heart disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases
Swapping out the butter or other artery-clogging fats in your diet for heart-healthy olive oil may add years to your ...
Omicron appears to be peaking
The number of new Covid-19 cases in New York City rose more than twentyfold in December. In the past few ...
Infographic: When will Omicron peak?
Our models project that the United States is likely to document more Covid-19 cases in January than in any previous ...
Twindemic: With regular flu cases ticking up, fears of mid-winter health crisis rise
A “twindemic” of covid-19 and influenza is a recipe for public health nightmares. Strict measures to control the spread of ...
First CRISPR food hits market: Sicilian Rouge tomato with blood pressure-lowering GABA available in Japan
Genome-edited food made with CRISPR–Cas9 technology is being sold on the open market for the first time. Since September, the ...
Considering Omicron’s milder impact, how should we alter our behavior?
The latest evidence about Covid is largely positive. A few weeks ago, many experts and journalists were warning that the initial ...
‘An increase in food production does not necessarily result in less hunger’: Why we need a second Green Revolution embracing genetics and organic farming
Most people believe hunger is caused by food scarcity, however this is wrong. There is currently more than enough food ...
GMO purple tomatoes with more antioxidants poised for spring US rollout
Genetically-modified (GM) purple tomatoes with high levels of health-giving antioxidants - developed by Norwich scientists - could be available in the USA from ...
What might have happened if COVID-19 had emerged 300 years ago?
If this novel coronavirus had emerged in 1719 instead of 2019, the effect would have been very different. For a ...
What causes obesity? Debate rages between ‘what you eat’ and ‘how much you eat’ factions
The usual way of thinking considers obesity a problem of energy balance. Take in more calories than you expend—in other ...
Viewpoint: ‘Unnecessary delays’ — Activist maneuvers slow rollouts of nutritionally-enhanced Golden Rice
The consumption of the genetically modified rice variety known as Golden Rice (GR) offers a potent and cost-effective strategy to ...
Viewpoint: 10 stupid agriculture and food truisms that need to die
In the spirit of moving forward into the new year and helping to stop the spread of misinformation, here are ...