Biotech
Human history has been all but defined by death and disease, plague and pandemic. Advancements in 20th century medicine changed all of that. Now advancements in 21st century medicine promise to go even further. Could we bring about an end to disease? Reverse aging? Give hearing to the deaf and sight to the blind? The answer may be yes. And soon.
Featured
The next era of psychedelics may be precision-designed states of consciousness
A look inside Mindstate Design Labs’ effort to design drugs that reliably produce specific states of consciousness.
What is The Great Progression: 2025 to 2050?
We have a historic opportunity to harness AI and other transformative technologies in order to make a much better world in the next 25 years.
Progress happens because solutions create new problems to solve
Solutionism means fully accepting what’s in front of us and enthusiastically stepping up to meet the challenge.
Psychedelics & Mental Health
How to reclaim meaning in a changing world
What if the barrier to a fulfilled life isn’t technology, it’s culture?
The exciting research that may cure Parkinson’s
GeneCode is developing a drug it hopes won’t just alleviate Parkinson’s symptoms but also protect and restore patient’s neural health.
Biohacking
We’re able to create new creatures through gene editing. What’s stopping us?
The question isn’t whether we can sculpt new life. The question is what comes next.
Boosted Breeding and beyond: 3 tech trends that could end world hunger
A world without hunger is possible, and the development and deployment of new farming technologies could be one key to manifesting it.
New AI generates CRISPR proteins unlike any seen in nature
An AI that generates CRISPR proteins is opening the door to gene editors with capabilities beyond what we’ve found in nature.
Ray Kurzweil explains how AI makes radical life extension possible
Life expectancy gains in developed countries have slowed in recent decades, but AI may be poised to transform medicine as we know it.
Vaccines
Personalized cancer vaccines are having a moment
Personalized cancer vaccines were a recurring theme at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in 2024.
The threat of avian flu — and what we can do to stop it
Avian flu is infecting cows on US dairy farms, and now a person has caught it — but new research could help us avoid a bird flu pandemic.
One shot recreates younger immune systems, in mice
An antibody treatment designed to revitalize an aging immune system delivers “surprising” results in elderly mice.
More
DNA-damaging molecules in the gut linked to colon cancer
A new Yale study linking a DNA-damaging molecule in the gut to colorectal cancer may give us a way to prevent the deadly disease.
New mRNA vaccine for flu and COVID-19 enters human trials
Pfizer and BioNTech’s new mRNA vaccine designed to protect against COVID-19 and the flu has entered human trials.
New study will put the leading theory about Alzheimer’s to the test
Washington University in St. Louis is embarking on a drug trial that may also put the amyloid hypothesis to its ultimate test.
Organ regeneration could overcome liver failure, without a transplant
Patients wait from 30 days to over five years to receive a liver transplant in the U.S. What if the liver could regenerate itself instead?
“Freakonomics” study offers simple strategy for making tough decisions
People who chose change over inaction, regardless of the decision, self-reported being better off and happier after six months.
AI could help cancer patients avoid a deadly recurrence
A new study found that AI can use a patient’s initial skin cancer growth to predict their risk of melanoma recurrence.
New exercise study could find drugs that mimic working out
MIT and Harvard researchers mapped out many of the cells, genes, and cellular pathways that are modified by exercise or high-fat diet.
7 ways CRISPR is shaping the future of food
Using the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR, researchers are altering crops and animals to add desirable traits and remove undesirable ones.
Pfizer’s RSV vaccine for pregnant women protects newborns
Pfizer plans to begin the regulatory approval process by the end of the year.
These earbuds can tell if a newborn has hearing problems
A newborn hearing screening device made from off-the-shelf earbuds is as effective as expensive commercial options.
These psychedelic “body snatchers” regenerate their bodies and absorb other organism’s attributes
These bizarre mollusks have the ability to regenerate their bodies and to absorb other organisms’ attributes.
AI-discovered drug for ALS enters human trials in just four years
Verge Genomics has begun a trial of their AI-found ALS drug candidate, one of the first tests for this new method of drug discovery.
Understanding cancer’s “dark matter”
Researchers have discovered that cancer’s epigenome — changes to how genes are expressed that aren’t mutations — may play a key role in its behavior.
FDA approves first-of-its-kind blood cancer treatment
The FDA has approved Johnson & Johnson’s Tecvayli, a new blood cancer treatment for people with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
What you eat can reprogram your genes
You are what you eat, and what your parents ate, and what their parents ate. An expert explains how the foods you eat can reprogram your genes.
Australian researchers have manufactured a living blood vessel
A blood vessel isn’t just a simple tube. Researchers at the University of Sydney have developed an implant capable of mimicking its complexities.
To avoid the worst effects of aging, we might need to exercise harder than we thought
To avoid one of the worst side effects of aging—bone, joint, and muscle pain—we might need to exercise a lot harder and more often.
New VR body suit lets you see inside your body while you exercise
A system for monitoring motion and muscle engagement could aid the elderly and athletes during physical rehabilitation.
Flu and RSV can fuse into a new kind of virus
In a new discovery, researchers at the University of Glasgow have observed hybrid viruses capable of infecting lung cells in the lab.
New smart contact lens monitors for glaucoma 24/7
Purdue researchers have created a smart, soft contact lens that can test for eye pressure, a key indicator of glaucoma, 24 hours a day.
Special Collection
Collection
The Science of Death
Explore the journey from life to death and beyond. Near-death experiences, death doulas, digital immortality, and more – join us for a thoughtful exploration of one life’s most intriguing and inevitable phenomena with stories from the frontlines of death.
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