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

Scientists have created a heart valve implant that grows

Children may have heart valve replacement surgery 5 or more times. A lab-grown, growing valve may change that in the future.

B. David Zarley

A common virus may be the key to a COVID vaccine for young children

Researchers have reverse-engineered a common children’s virus to show the spike protein, potentially leading to a new COVID vaccine for young children.

B. David Zarley

“Zombie” cells grow in the brain after death

After death, gene expression increases in the brain’s glial cells — and those “zombie” cells could affect how we study neurological disorders.

Kristin Houser

It's now possible to diagnose concussions with saliva

Saliva was used to diagnose concussions with 94% accuracy, suggesting that an objective concussion test may finally be within reach.

Kristin Houser

CRISPR fixes rare mutation for the first time in a live animal

For the first time in a live animal, researchers have successfully reversed a gene mutation, called a “duplication mutation,” by gene editing.

Teresa Carey

This startup is creating a toothpaste for your peanut allergy

Immunotherapy for allergies can help reduce allergic reactions, but it needs to be daily. Could toothpaste provide a solution?

B. David Zarley

IBM’s artificial intelligence may help us defeat superbugs

A new AI tool detected 20 viable drug candidates in less than two months

Amanda Winkler

DoorDash is now offering COVID-19 test delivery

DoorDash is now offering COVID-19 test delivery in 12 cities, bringing at-home COVID-19 test kits to people the same day they’re ordered.

Kristin Houser

A plant-based COVID vaccine is going into arms

A COVID-19 vaccine grown in plants is beginning phase 3 clinical trials.

B. David Zarley

Virus hidden in human for years may have caused new ebola outbreak

A genetic report shows that a survivor of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in Guinea is likely to have begun the latest episode.

Teresa Carey

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