Nathan Seppa

Biomedical Writer (retired September 2015)

All Stories by Nathan Seppa

  1. Health & Medicine

    Vaccine Harvest: Cholera fighter could be easy to swallow

    An edible vaccine, made by genetically engineering rice, safeguards mice against the toxin produced by cholera bacteria.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Right combination of malaria drugs?

    Children in Uganda who contract malaria recover faster with a drug based on artemisinin, derived from Chinese wormwood, than with a longstanding medical remedy.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Blending In: Dissolvable stents promise to protect arteries

    A biodegradable magnesium stent props open clogged blood vessels and then dissolves, circumventing the problems linked to permanent metal stents.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Early Start: Fetuses generate immune response to vaccination

    A fetus can manufacture immune cells and antibodies in direct response to vaccine given to the mother during pregnancy.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Circadian Fix: Viagra may lessen effects of jet lag

    Sildenafil, the male-impotence drug marketed as Viagra, helps laboratory rodents recovery from circadian disruptions similar to jet lag.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Nail-gun injuries shoot up

    Nail-gun injuries among do-it-yourself carpenters have tripled since 1991.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Migraines in men linked to heart attack risk

    Men who experience migraine headaches are somewhat more likely to have heart attacks than are other men.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Risk Factor: Throat cancer linked to virus spread by sex

    Cancer of the throat and tonsils can arise from infection with a sexually transmitted virus.

  9. Health & Medicine

    More Than Bit Players: Snippets of RNA might sway pancreatic cancer

    Small pieces of genetic material called microRNA might provide a preview of pancreatic cancer's aggressiveness and offer targets for combating the usually deadly disease.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Inherited Burden? Early menarche in moms tied to obesity in kids

    Women who reach puberty at an early age are more likely to have children who are overweight.

  11. Health & Medicine

    No heart risk from hormones taken near menopause

    Contrary to some earlier indications, hormone replacement therapy might not impart heart risks to women who take it during their 50s.

  12. Uncommon cancer gets start in muscle cells

    Synovial sarcoma, a cancer thought to arise from joint tissue, actually forms in nascent muscle cells, a mouse study shows.