Health & Medicine / Health Policy

The Lethal Gene That Emerged in Ancient Palestine and Spread Around the Globe

A long line of discoveries shows the history and biology of the world's most studied piece of DNA, a mutation that causes breast cancer. 01.30.2012

#94: HPV Vaccine—Now for Boys


The CDC recommended that preteen boys, as well as girls, get the HPV vaccine. 01.05.2012

The Forrest Gump of Mice (Minus the Insipid Adages)

A simple gene switch lets rodents run and run and run. 10.26.2011

How Your Tax Dollars Save Lives: Gene Therapy

Sixty years of government-funded basic research has set up a potential revolution in our approach to disease. 10.24.2011

Dawn of the BioHackers

Do-it-yourself biologists are 
hunting down genetic disorders and 
creating synthetic life-forms 
in garages, closets, and backyards 
around the world.
 10.05.2011

What You Don't Know Can Kill You

Humans have a perplexing 
tendency to fear rare threats such as shark attacks while blithely 
ignoring far greater risks like 
unsafe sex and an unhealthy diet. Those illusions are not just 
silly—they make the world a more dangerous place.
 10.03.2011

We Can Now Safely Sequence a Fetus' Genome. Is the World Ready for This?

Researchers can now get the entire genome of a fetus just by sampling the mother's blood. While this could help new parents prepare, it may also lead to more abortions and more carefully selected offspring. 09.21.2011

The Bright, Hi-Tech Future of Food Preservation

Irradiating food? Pssh. Old news. Engineers are working on more effective (and cooler) techniques like super-high pressure, chemical coatings, and, yes, laser ovens. 09.02.2011

The Planet Fixers

A corporate executive, an environmental engineer, an evangelical-
Christian scientist, and a youth organizer join NBC moderator Tom Brokaw for a spirited debate on solutions to climate change. 08.08.2011

The Trillions of Microbes That Call Us Home—and Help Keep Us Healthy

The human body is a habitat for a huge range of harmless and beneficial microbes, which may be the key to fighting disease without antibiotics. 
 07.13.2011

What Will Our Telomeres Tell Us?

Nobel Prize–winner Elizabeth Blackburn's company will soon begin selling a test of telomere length to consumers. Whether that information will actually help improve people's health remains to be seen. 05.18.2011

The Problem With Medicine: We Don't Know If Most of It Works

Less than half the surgeries, drugs, and tests that doctors recommend have been proved effective. 02.11.2011

The Timeless and Trendy Effort to Find—or Create—the Fountain of Youth

In the quest for longer life, scientists are trying to find the genes of longevity and bottle their benefits for all. 02.07.2011

Can Bill Gates Buy a Better World?

The billionaire's foundation has been criticized for being insider-ish and attention-grabbing, but the organization has recently had some big successes. 02.04.2011

The 100 Top Science Stories of 2010

Every year DISCOVER sorts through the scientific accomplishments of the past 12 months, and assembles a list of the coolest experiments, most brilliant discoveries, and most world-changing events. As you page through the countdown to the #1 science story, we think you'll come to the same conclusion we did: 2010 was quite a year. 12.16.2010

The Brain: What Happens to a Linebacker's Neurons?

A blow to the head can change the neural architecture of the brain from elastic to brittle, with devastating consequences. 08.18.2010

The Downfall of India's Kidney Kingpin

Special Investigation: How a self-taught doctor from Delhi cornered the black market in kidneys, building one of the world’s most lucrative organ-trading rings, until it all came crashing down. 08.13.2010

Are You Living in a Former Meth Lab?

Houses once used as meth labs dot the country, and pose health risks to their new residents. 04.28.2010

The Intellectual Property Fight That Could Kill Millions

The hothouse environment of Indonesia is ground zero for a potential bird flu pandemic. But a fight over ownership of flu genes is blocking the efforts to track deadly infections on the move. 01.28.2010

#52: Courts Consider Who Owns the Human Genome

Myriad Genetics owns the patent over certain breast cancer genes, effectively giving them ownership over any test involving the genes. 01.03.2010

The Psychology of Genetic Testing

Even geneticist Tara Matise was curious about—but not spooked by—having her genetic palm read. 09.23.2009

Can Training in Second Life Teach Doctors to Save Real Lives?

Medical training programs are springing up in virtual reality, and they may bring big changes to the way health-care professionals learn their craft. 07.16.2009

Why Does the Vaccine/Autism Controversy Live On?

Research has soundly disproved the alleged connection, yet fears about vaccines continue to be a major risk to public health. 05.06.2009

Are Smart Drugs the Answer to Bad Moods—and a Bad Economy?

Today’s mind-altering chemicals can improve your memory, alertness, and mood. Just wait until you see what tomorrow’s crop can do. 04.02.2009

How to Tell If You're Poisoning Yourself With Fish

Researchers are creating genetic tests to determine if mercury hiding in that "healthy" dinner could be messing with your brain. 03.19.2009

First Plastic Went After Babies; Now It's Messing Up Science Itself

A new study shows that plastic lab equipment can interfere with experiments. 01.30.2009

Is One Very Tough Rat a Very Big Risk to Human Health?

The rodents charged with testing environmental chemicals may be too tough for their jobs. 01.22.2009

#3: The FDA Tackles Tainted Drugs From China

The realities of globalization hit the U.S. drug industry. 12.22.2008

#9: Your Genome, Now Available for a (Relative) Discount

The first cost around $1 million; now, it's more like $200,000. 12.21.2008

#12: Plastics Come Under Fire

The BPA debate rages on as the public demands action. 12.20.2008

#19: Salmonella Outbreak Shines Light on Food Safety

Two deaths and countless dollars later, the chinks in the food system are exposed. 12.19.2008

#29: A New Law Bans Genetic Discrimination

After over a decade, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act becomes law. 12.17.2008

#38: Cholesterol Drugs Are Prescribed for High-Risk Kids

8-year-olds can now take statins to reduce the chances of heart disease. 12.15.2008

#46: FDA Approves Food From Cloned Animals

Meat and milk products from cloned livestock may soon hit the shelves. 12.13.2008

Does Shaken Baby Syndrome Really Exist?

Mainstream medicine supports the diagnosis, but some doctors claim the evidence behind it is questionable. 12.02.2008

The Lifesaving Work of the Man Behind "A Civil Action"

"Popular epidemiologist" Phil Brown comes to the aid of environmental contamination victims. 07.29.2008

It's Hard Out There for a Biomedical Researcher

A scientists reveals the harassment he experienced from animal rights activists. 06.25.2008

Wonder Drugs That Can Kill

Modern pharmaceutical "breakthroughs" sometimes do more harm than good. 06.20.2008

How Much Do Chemicals Affect Our Health?

Philip Landrigan tracks how dangers like the WTC can cause problems like ADD. 04.25.2008

How Do Transplant Patients Wind Up with Killer Organs?

Transplants occasionally bring lethal diseases like AIDS and cancer. 04.17.2008

Go to the Fridge and Fix Yourself a Superbug Sandwich

Canadian pork imports may be laced with antibiotic-resistant Staph. 03.28.2008

Finally! A Nearly Foolproof Circumcision.

Ingenious new device means lower HIV rates, safer penises. 03.24.2008

In Election Year, Stem Cell Question Grows Still Gnarlier

Bush says he won the war, but the prez ain't seen nothin' yet. 03.03.2008

A Chat With George W. Bush’s Conscience

Embryonic stem cells crashed against Leon Kass’ old-school moralism. 02.20.2008

Introducing the Absolute Scale of Food Healthfulness

A ban of junk-food advertising relies on a new measure of nutrition. 01.25.2008

The Moral of the Zetia Story

LDL is only called bad cholesterol because we call it that. 01.24.2008

The Smoking Torch

Surviving Beijing’s air may be an Olympian feat. 12.12.2007

5. Rx for the FDA

Faced with controversies over drug warnings and recalls, the drug agency tries to revamp itself. 12.12.2007

1. China’s Syndrome

Tainted products and choking pollution spark anxiety across the globe. 12.12.2007

Scientist of the Year Notable: Hans Rosling

His mission: To enlist hard data in the global war on poverty and disease. 12.06.2007

Forever Young

Suzanne Somers says special hormones can keep women young. Should they listen? 11.13.2007

Expert: Modern Chemicals Brought Cancer Epidemic

First tobacco. Then asbestos. Now we're awash in a sea of new poisons. 11.08.2007

20 Things You Didn't Know About... The Surgeon General

They weren't all the presidents' stooges. 10.05.2007

The 9/11 Cover-Up

Thousands of New Yorkers were endangered by WTC debris—and government malfeasance. 09.07.2007

World Plague Center

Philip Landrigan tracks the massive health fallout from breathing NY air after 9/11. 09.07.2007

Global Warming, the Great Lifesaver

Bjorn Lomborg says balmier weather could ward off millions of deaths. 08.31.2007

Iraq’s Medical Meltdown

Thousands of Iraqis die needlessly in a crumbling health-care system. 07.17.2007

Health Trends: Contagious and Selfish

Andrew Speaker could have been a modern-day Typhoid Mary. 06.29.2007

Why Is the HPV Vaccine So Expensive?

Good for the cervix, rough on the pocketbook 06.11.2007

What's Wrong With American Medicine?

The New Yorker ignores the elephant in the room: money. 05.18.2007

Phoenix Rising

Geneticists bring back a virus from its grave—human DNA. 02.25.2007

The Top 3 Science Policy Stories of 2006

Nanotech emerges from Pandora's box, DDT the lifesaver, FDA & NCI [heart] HPV vaccine 01.16.2007

Five Lessons From Avian Flu

Work, Watch, Wait, Worry, and Wonder 06.25.2006

Hating Human Hybrids

The case for chimeras 05.28.2006

Second Act For Stem Cells

Second Act For Stem Cells 04.27.2006

The Battle Over The Cervical Cancer Vaccine Heats Up

Should adolescent girls be required to get it? 04.25.2006

Body Snatchers

The exhibit is riveting, but critics wonder where these cadavers came from 04.02.2006

Discover Dialogue: Harvard Clinician John Abramson

The truth is that lifestyle is far more important than cholesterol levels 11.22.2005

Discover Dialogue: Biochemist Paul Berg

I'm an experimentalist, and the only way I can tell you if it works is to try it 04.28.2005

Emerging Technology

Digitizing patient records exposes you to prying eyes but could also save your life 12.03.2004

Bush vs. Kerry on Science

An alternative way to view the election 10.01.2004

Politics

01.02.2004

Testing Pesticides on Humans

Pesticide companies pay volunteers to swallow and inhale the neurotoxins they make. What's wrong with this picture? 12.03.2003

Vital Signs

A boy is gasping for his life, and the medics' rescue measures have failed 09.01.2003

Too Close to Ebola

An American doctor in Uganda faces a world without basic health care that few of us can imagine 06.01.2003

Politics of Science

01.01.2003

Medicine

01.01.2003

Is Radiation Good For You?

The answer is yes but only in very small doses, says one of the country's most respected toxicologists. If he's right, environmental regulation will never be the same 12.01.2002

An Embarrassment of Chimps

The U.S. is the last Western country that still uses them for medical research. 05.01.2002

Follow Up:

12.01.2001

A Clone of One's Own

First sheep, then cows, soon monkeys: It's only a matter of time until the first human clone is cooing in its—uh, mother's?—arms. 05.01.1998

Tempting Fates

If you could dictate the content of your kid's genes, wouldn't you? Shouldn't you? 05.01.1998

Patent Medicine

01.01.1997

Busting the Busters

01.01.1997

A Shot in the Dark

The world's first large-scale AIDS vaccine trial will soon begin in Thailand. 06.01.1996

Silicone in the System

Has Nir Kossovsky really shown anything about the dangers of breast implants? 12.01.1995

Fetal Attraction

In theory, brain cells that have been killed by Parkinson's disease can be replaced with cells from the brains of aborted fetuses. Now that the necessary politics and the technology are in place, neurosurgeons are about to find out if that theory is correct. 07.01.1995

Dead End

06.01.1995

Poll Vaulting

05.01.1995

The Mother of All Blood Cells

Stem cells, capable of generating an endless supply of red cells, white cells, and platelets, have also generated a heated scientific controversy--and millions of dollars for the man who claims to have found them. 03.01.1995

Liquid Assets

09.01.1993

Dead Complicated

10.01.1992