Health

a stylized image of a person injecting themselves with a GLP-1 agonist

Are weight-loss meds the next wonder drugs?

Evidence is mounting that GLP-1 agonists could treat many health issues — including ones that aren’t obviously related to weight.

Kristin Houser

A surgeon in scrubs and a headlamp performs a gene-edited pig kidney transplant, assisted by another healthcare professional, under bright surgical lights.

Surgery

First-of-its-kind pig kidney transplant is a success

A woman with heart and kidney failure is now the second person in the world to undergo a gene-edited pig kidney transplant.

Kristin Houser

white pills being poured from a milk container over a black background

Medicine

Milk could overcome one of the biggest hurdles to RNA therapies

RNA therapies typically break down if administered orally, but particles found in cows’ milk could provide perfect protection.

Kristin Houser

A person finding motivation to run on a treadmill.

Sports

Focus on right now, not the distant future, to stay motivated and on track to your long-term health goals

Research highlights three effective strategies to help you achieve your goals, including prioritizing short-term consequences.

Paul Stillman and Kaitlin Woolley

Brain

Injections of brain protein reverse memory loss in mice

A protein called “KIBRA” could be the key to new Alzheimer’s treatments that don’t just slow disease progression, but reverse memory loss.

Kristin Houser

Two women hugging in front of a kitchen filled with an abundance of food, portraying the significance of "you are what you eat.

Genetics

Netflix’s “You Are What You Eat” proves twin studies’ importance to science

What is it that makes twins so special, and how do researchers harness the power of twins? "You Are What You Eat" helps prove their importance.

Nathan Kettlewell

a collage of cells, blood, pills, and other health-related imagery

Immunology

How to stop our immune systems from turning on us

From "inverse vaccines" to repurposed cancer therapies, several potential cures for autoimmune diseases are showing serious promise.

Kristin Houser

An image of a cell with blue and red lights.

Cancer

New hope for early pancreatic cancer intervention via AI-based risk prediction

To train their machine learning models, MIT researchers used electronic health record data from various institutions across the U.S.

Rachel Gordon | MIT CSAIL

Aging

You can’t reverse the aging process but these 5 things can help you live longer

Hassan Vally

a collage of cells and a photo of a child's face with swollen lips

CRISPR

One-shot CRISPR treatment for inherited disease aces first human trial

A CRISPR treatment for hereditary angioedema significantly reduced swelling attacks in its first human trial.

Kristin Houser

A woman in a lab coat working on a machine

Medicine

New non-opioid pain reliever moves closer to approval

Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ new painkiller, VX-548, significantly reduced moderate-to-severe pain in two phase 3 trials.

Kristin Houser

Cancer

Inhalable sensors could enable early lung cancer detection

MIT engineers have designed diagnostic particles that can be aerosolized and inhaled to find cancer-associated proteins in the lungs.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office

a close up image of two dogs' faces, side by side. The dog on the right appears older.

Aging

Anti-aging pill for senior dogs is now in clinical trials

An anti-aging pill for senior dogs now in clinical trials might lead to treatments that extend human lives, too.

Kristin Houser

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