STAT
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 ...
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 ...
CRISPR treatment for rare genetic eye disorder gains FDA study approval
Days after a Chinese researcher incensed the world of science with claims of editing the genomes of twin girls, an American ...
Converting thought to speech: Brain implants could help paralyzed patients communicate
[Neurosurgeon Ashesh Mehta] was operating on [an] epilepsy patient to determine the source of seizures. But the patient agreed to ...
Using single-cell sequencing to refine the search for disease culprits
[S]cientists, using a powerful technology called single-cell sequencing, have begun to peel apart the precise mechanisms of how individual cells ...
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 ...
Viewpoint: Why we need a 3-year moratorium on gene-edited babies
Chinese researcher He [Jiankui] dropped the bomb with his claim that he produced twin CRISPR’d babies. He cited a 2017 National Academies ...
Inside the quest to solve mystery disease paralyzing kids
To parents and the press, the “new” disease that is paralyzing kids is a mystery. Media coverage of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), ...
Viewpoint: Why gene drives should be left in the hands of nonprofits
Gene drive and other methods of editing the genomes of wild organisms could save millions of lives and prevent billions ...
Ethics and the controversial decision to make gene-edited babies
For someone who has caused a worldwide uproar over what many fellow scientists consider an ethical outrage, He Jiankui of ...
There’s still much we don’t know about world’s first gene-edited babies
A Chinese scientist has shocked the world with claims he used the genome editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 to manipulate the genes ...
Start up Nebula Genomics offers free full genome sequencing, but there’s a privacy catch
Information wants to be free, says the old internet meme, and a genomics company will now apply that to DNA: ...
How we can improve mortality rates for people with mental illnesses
[P]eople with serious mental illness die 10 to 25 years earlier than the general population. It’s not difficult to understand why. Even ...
Using machine learning to hunt for the origins of new viruses
When a new virus crops up in people, health authorities face an urgent question: Where did it come from? Thousands of viruses ...
Opioid controversy: FDA approves powerful new drug despite addiction concerns
In a highly controversial move, the Food and Drug Administration approved an especially powerful opioid painkiller despite criticism that the ...
Explaining CRISPR gene editing to beginners is no easy task
[MIT grad student Avery] Normandin was surrounded by an entirely different kind of laypeople. These folks — or at least ...
Viewpoint: Why the West should worry about losing the gene-editing race
I fear that the West is losing today’s version of the “space race” — this one to use and control gene ...
Small patient pool in Alzheimer’s drug trial casts shadow on positive results
Facing pressing questions about its latest clinical trial in Alzheimer’s disease, Biogen may have sowed further doubt on the future ...
Which contraceptive is best for you? Precision medicine could provide the answer
Approximately 900 million women around the world use contraceptives. It’s a shame that, even with the best available evidence and resources, an ...
Drugs for mental disorders: Why better access to services ‘will likely make things worse’
To reduce the rising burden of mental disorders around the world, the Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health and Sustainable ...
Seeking answers for sick babies through whole genome sequencing
When babies become intensely ill, it can be difficult to know what has gone wrong. But the answer, quite often, ...
Cartoons offer ‘simple’ whimsical look at cancer immunotherapy through the eyes of scientists
Four years ago, I was hired for a new and terrific job: to help my colleagues at Solebury Trout and ...
Why we should worry about the rapid spread of ketamine clinics
As ketamine clinics pop up across the U.S. to offer experimental infusions for depression, anxiety, and a slew of other conditions, training ...
Therapy dogs spread joy—and possibly superbugs—to kids in hospitals
Therapy dogs can bring more than joy and comfort to hospitalized kids. They can also bring stubborn germs. Doctors at ...
Viewpoint: Do male doctors tend to be paternalistic when treating ‘female’ diseases?
When my silent assassin emerged last autumn, I pressed my surgeon about the prognosis for a form of peritoneal cancer ...
In order to thrive, precision medicine requires ‘novel business solutions’
Oncology currently leads the way in precision medicine advancements, but its forward progress is slowed by inefficiencies such as clinical ...
Treating genetic disorders before birth? CRISPR cures mouse disease in the womb
Nearly 40 years after surgeons first operated on fetuses to cure devastating abnormalities, researchers have taken the first step toward curing genetic ...
Genetic tests are used to determine antidepressant efficacy – but science might not back up claims
It can be notoriously difficult for psychiatrists and patients to determine which antidepressant might be most effective, or which might cause side ...
