Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Tumor tracking gets personal

    A new method has the potential to use genome science to improve cancer care.

    By Eva Emerson
  2. Health & Medicine

    Lunch time for stem cells

    Kristen Brennand is trying to tease out how the cells in brains of healthy people differ from those in schizophrenic patients. The problem: No one wants to give up a chunk of brain for her to study. So she’s fashioning her own clumps of brain cells from tissue people willingly part with – skin.

    By Janet Raloff
  3. Humans

    Decoding diversity in Bushmen

    Decoding the genetic makeup of tribal leaders and Archbishop Desmond Tutu uncovers rich genetic diversity in southern Africans.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  4. Health & Medicine

    Mutations may underlie some stuttering

    Defects in three genes governing basic cell metabolism are found in a portion of cases, researchers find.

    By Nathan Seppa
  5. Health & Medicine

    Inflammatory bowel disease hikes blood clots

    Study finds people with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis have greatest risk during painful episodes.

    By Nathan Seppa
  6. Life

    Sperm’s pore propulsion

    Scientists identify a key proton channel that helps explain the dash to fertilization.

    By Laura Sanders
  7. Health & Medicine

    Protein clumps like a prion, but proves crucial for long-term memory

    Study in slugs hints that some molecular 'misbehavior' in neurons may help solidify learning.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  8. Agriculture

    EPA reviews hints of weed killer’s fetal risks

    The Environmental Protection Agency will be convening meetings of its Scientific Advisory Panel on pesticides throughout 2010 to probe concerns about the safety of atrazine, a weed killer on which most American corn growers rely. The first meeting of these outside experts started Tuesday. And although a large number of studies have indicated that atrazine can perturb hormones in animals and human cells — and might even pose a possible risk of cancer amongst heavily exposed people, these outcomes were not the focus of EPA’s review Tuesday. Risks to babies were.

    By Janet Raloff
  9. Health & Medicine

    Journal retracts flawed study linking MMR vaccine and autism

    Deleted Scenes Blog: Biomedical reporter Nathan Seppa describes latest chapter in controversy created by now debunked research.

    By Nathan Seppa
  10. Health & Medicine

    Small study hints SSRIs delay breast milk in new moms

    Women taking the antidepressant drugs began lactating later.

    By Nathan Seppa
  11. Health & Medicine

    Body fat linked to late puberty in boys

    Boys can take a lot of ribbing from their peers for not being macho enough. A new study now indicates that it can take longer to begin transforming into a man if a boy starts out fat.

    By Janet Raloff
  12. Health & Medicine

    Neurons may function more solo than thought

    Neurons coordinate activity less often than previously thought.

    By Tina Hesman Saey