Health & Medicine

Health & Medicine

Gene change linked to poor memory

A subtle change in a gene encoding a brain chemical may give some people better memory skills than others.

Health & Medicine

Slow brain repair seen in Huntington’s

In people with Huntington's disease, the brain tries to replace dying nerve cells.

Health & Medicine

Gene may keep breast cancer at bay

Scientists have identified a gene that seems to protect against some common breast cancers.

Health & Medicine

New inner ear hair cells grow in rat tissue

Using a gene known to control hair-cell growth, researchers have grown hair cells in tissue taken from newborn rats' cochleas, raising hopes that inner ear damage may someday be reversible.

Health & Medicine

Salt trial provokes DASH of skepticism

Though a new study finds that dramatic salt restriction can lower blood pressure, even among people without hypertension, some critics challenge its value in setting new dietary guidelines for all adults.

Health & Medicine

Attack of the Clones: Immune cells single out melanoma tumors

Scientists can extract immune system cells that recognize tumor cells from people with melanoma, culture the rare cells to greatly increase their number, and inject them into the patients, sometimes putting the brakes on cancer.

Health & Medicine

Immune protein may stall HIV

People who have HIV but don't progress to AIDS make extra perforin, a protein that helps kill infected cells.

Health & Medicine

Duct tape sticks it to warts

Treating a wart with a covering of duct tape seems to be more effective—and less painful—than removing the wart by freezing it with liquid nitrogen.

Health & Medicine

Cooking Science

The Exploratorium’s “Science of Cooking” Web pages offer all sorts of advice on how to improve your cooking–with a pinch of science. Information, recipes, and activities focus on spices, bread, meat, eggs, and more. Experience the thrill of pickle making and learn about a zesty dish called kimchi. Explore the science of cooking your holiday […]

Health & Medicine

Schizophrenia spurs imaging network

Thanks to a federal grant, a team of researchers will establish a national database of brain images that will allow for expanded investigations of the neural basis of schizophrenia.

Health & Medicine

Old Drug, New Uses?

A hormone called erythropoietin, long used to treat anemia, also seems to protect against nerve damage and holds promise as a new therapy for stroke and spinal cord injury.

Health & Medicine

First Line of Defense: Hints of primitive antibodies

After looking in primitive marine invertebrates that are considered to be close relatives to vertebrates, immunologists find families of genes that might provide clues as to how early immune systems evolved.