So how close are we to using pigs for a limitless supply of organs to solve the global shortage? Using animal organs in the human body is an old idea, and has ranged from “zest for life” chimpanzee testicle implants to replacement kidneys and hearts taken from our primate relatives. The latter often ended in … Read more

Gene editing is when a scientist makes a tiny, controlled change in the DNA of a seed or animal, including humans. In agriculture, it can improve productivity, enhance nutrition or help reduce the use of inputs, from chemicals to water. In humans, it can be used to edit harmful mutations to cure diseases with genetic … Read more

A new, enormous family tree for all of humanity attempts to summarize how all humans alive today relate both to one another and to our ancient ancestors. To build this family tree, or genealogy, researchers sifted through thousands of genome sequences collected from both modern and ancient humans, as well as ancient human relatives, according to … Read more

Some of the timeliest data on Covid-19 outcomes by vaccination status comes from New York City and the Seattle area, and the two are telling a consistent story. Cases for vaccinated and unvaccinated residents alike are rising: They’re rising because vaccination often does not prevent infection from the Omicron variant. It reduces the chances substantially — as … Read more

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited condition that causes widespread deterioration in the brain and disrupts thinking, behaviour, emotion and movement. The disease usually begins in midlife, with subtle changes such as mood swings and difficulty in staying focused. As it progresses, people develop dementia and an inability to speak or move. There are no … Read more

Our models project that the United States is likely to document more Covid-19 cases in January than in any previous month of the pandemic, but a smaller fraction of those cases will require hospitalization. Whether hospitals experience more or less strain than they did in January 2021 will depend on case numbers and how severe … Read more

Unvaccinated Californians were between 15 and 20 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated ones when deaths from the disease most recently peaked at the start of September, according to state data. The California Department of Public Health publishes data on the vaccination status of people who test positive for coronavirus as well … Read more

Medication abortion, also known as medical abortion or abortion with pills, is an FDA approved pregnancy termination protocol that involves taking two different drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, for use up to the first 70 days (10 weeks) of pregnancy. Studies show that medication abortion care is safe and effective. This infographic highlights data and policies … Read more

Infectious-diseases physician Krutika Kuppalli had been in her new job for barely a week in September 2020, when someone phoned her at home and threatened to kill her. Kuppalli, who had just moved from California to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, had been dealing with online abuse for months after she’d given … Read more

Conservative media sometimes blame the problem of the unvaccinated on people of color, but the data show vaccine resistance is mostly about red America and younger adults now. By the numbers: 59% of the unvaccinated are Republicans, 64% are white and 46% have a high school education or less. More than half of the unvaccinated live in … Read more