Neurology
Another New Alzheimer’s Drug: What Promising Trial Results Mean for Treatment
Findings suggest that the amyloid-targeting drug candidate slows cognitive decline in some people, but questions remain over its potential side effects
Stories by Sara Reardon
Animals
What Makes a Mammal? 423,000 Newly Identified DNA Regions Guide Our Genes
These elements, dubbed “UNICORNs,” sit close to genes that affect smell, sleep and ways that people and other mammals interact with their surroundings
Reproduction
How the Mifepristone Ruling Could Affect Abortion Access
A federal judge in Texas ruled to withdraw the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, potentially making medication abortion less accessible nationwide...
Artificial Intelligence
AI Chatbots Can Diagnose Medical Conditions at Home. How Good Are They?
As more people turn to chat-based AIs for medical advice, it remains to be seen how these tools stack up against—or could complement—human doctors
Medicine
Another Patient Is Free of HIV after Receiving Virus-Resistant Cells
The risks associated with a bone marrow transplant used to treat HIV mean the procedure is unlikely to be widely used in its current form
Epidemiology
What Does the Future of Monkeypox Look Like?
With cases declining in the U.S. and Europe, here are some scenarios of how the outbreak might play out
Vaccines
First U.S. Polio Case in Nearly a Decade Highlights the Importance of Vaccination
An unvaccinated person in New York State’s Rockland County developed paralysis from a polio infection, emphasizing the need to target vaccination efforts to vulnerable communities
Epidemiology
Why is Monkeypox Evolving So Fast?
The virus circulating in the current outbreak has mutated 50 times in the past four years
Epidemiology
This AI Tool Could Predict the Next Coronavirus Variant
The model, which uses machine learning to track the fitness of different viral strains, accurately predicted the rise of Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant and the Alpha variant
Reproduction
New Abortion Laws Could Make Prenatal Genetic Screening Harder to Do
States that outlaw abortions after a certain number of weeks could make it difficult or impossible to terminate a pregnancy because of a serious genetic disorder
Epidemiology
Long COVID Risk Falls Only Slightly after Vaccination
Results from a large study suggest that vaccines offer less protection against lingering symptoms than expected
Medicine
A Simple Solution Would Make COVID Antivirals More Accessible, Pharmacists Say
The Biden administration’s Test to Treat program aims to make the treatments available at pharmacies, yet it requires a medical provider to prescribe the drugs
Epidemiology
Wastewater Monitoring Offers Powerful Tool for Tracking COVID and Other Diseases
A CDC database of sewage data from communities around the nation could provide earlier warning of outbreaks and new viral variants
Cognition
Can Lab-Grown Brains Become Conscious?
A handful of experiments are raising questions about whether clumps of cells and disembodied brains could be sentient and how scientists would know if they were
Health Care
When Should You Get a COVID Test?
It depends, but vaccinated people should generally wait five days after exposure before taking an antigen test. Here’s why
Ethics
Will Giving COVID Booster Shots Make It Harder to Vaccinate the Rest of the World?
Wealthy countries have bought up most of the available vaccine doses for booster shots but still have far more than they need
Reproduction
A Timeline of How Abortion Laws Could Affect Pregnancy Decisions
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade in a Mississippi abortion case, numerous state laws will interfere with key biological and social decisions during pregnancy
Medicine
Do Monoclonal Antibodies Help COVID Patients?
Experts explain what this treatment involves, who needs it and how to get it
Natural Disasters
The True Haiti Earthquake Death Toll Is Much Worse Than Early Official Counts
A tool built by the U.S. Geological Survey suggests that the number of fatalities may range from 10,000 to 100,000 or more
Epidemiology
Why Do Variants Such as Delta Become Dominant?
Mutations that make a virus more transmissible are only part of the equation
