Health & Medicine

  1. Neuroscience

    Year in review: Alzheimer’s drug may clarify disease’s origins

    Researchers will now test whether a treatment that swept away amyloid brain plaques also improves cognitive performance.

    By Laura Sanders
  2. Health & Medicine

    The fight against infectious diseases is still an uphill battle

    The fight against infectious diseases is far from over. The last several decades have seen many outbreaks and global pandemic scares.

    By Sonia Shah
  3. Health & Medicine

    Number of teens who report doing drugs falls in 2016

    Drug use is down among teens, survey finds.

    By Laura Sanders
  4. Life

    Zika induces brain cell die-off

    Cell biologists are learning more about how the Zika virus disrupts brain cells to cause microcephaly.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  5. Life

    Disabling enzyme could block Zika

    Disrupting a key Zika enzyme shows preliminary promise.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  6. Life

    Cell biologists learn how Zika kills brain cells, devise schemes to stop it

    Cell biologists are learning more about how the Zika virus disrupts brain cells to cause microcephaly. Meanwhile, several strategies to combat the virus show preliminary promise.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  7. Health & Medicine

    Penicillin allergy? Think again.

    Most people are either mislabeled with a penicillin allergy or get over it with time, and doctors don’t always think to check.

    By Emily DeMarco
  8. Health & Medicine

    Microcephaly cases surge in Colombia following rise in Zika infections

    More than 400 cases of microcephaly have been reported in Colombia this year, months after Zika virus infections peaked in the country.

    By Meghan Rosen
  9. Health & Medicine

    Microcephaly cases surge in Colombia following rise in Zika infections

    More than 400 cases of microcephaly have been reported in Colombia this year, months after Zika virus infections peaked in the country.

    By Meghan Rosen
  10. Life

    Cells avoiding suicide may play role in spread of cancer

    A newly discovered process can pull cells back from the brink of death.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  11. Health & Medicine

    Oldest traces of smallpox virus found in child mummy

    The oldest genetic evidence of smallpox comes from variola virus DNA found in a child mummy buried in a church crypt in Lithuania.

    By Meghan Rosen
  12. Life

    Having an extra chromosome has a surprising effect on cancer

    Extra chromosome copies may protect against, not cause, cancer.

    By Tina Hesman Saey