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
The first steps towards an allergic asthma vaccine
French researchers have shown an allergic asthma vaccine to be effective in mice. The next step: human clinical trials.
Can an app save cardiac arrest victims before EMS arrives?
In Denmark, Heartrunner directs citizen responders to cardiac arrest victims. Should the U.S. adopt a similar approach?
Can new drugs make obesity a medical — not moral — condition?
Researchers are hopeful that a class of drugs called incretins will not only treat obesity, but help people think of it as a medical condition.
IBS treatment app helps patients reprogram their minds
An IBS treatment app that facilitates cognitive behavior therapy helped trial participants manage symptoms and improve their quality of life.
These glowing bacteria can diagnose gut problems
Using synthetic biology, a team at Rice has designed bacteria that can sense signs of inflammatory bowel disease in mice.
Experimental procedure zaps nerves to lower blood pressure
Renal denervation, a procedure that uses ultrasound pulses to zap renal nerves, showed promise as a treatment for resistant hypertension in a recent trial.
Sperm may play a bigger role in pregnancy than we thought
Sperm appear to play a bigger role in pregnancy than previously believed, not only fertilizing the egg, but also “persuading” the female body to accept it.
What it’s like to do a human challenge trial
Human challenge trials are risky, but they could help us avoid another prolonged pandemic.
Old dogs are helping scientists combat human aging
By studying donated tissues stored in a pet dog biobank, researchers have uncovered a genetic link between brain aging in canines and humans.
The DNA-based diet you’ll be hearing about everywhere
A growing field called “nutrigenomics” aims to provide people with personalized lifestyle guidance based on their DNA
Molecular "tweezers" pick apart bacterias' biofilm
Israeli researchers have developed a set of “molecular tweezers” that can pick apart the biofilm which protects some bacteria.
Your incentives to get the COVID-19 vaccine
If protection against a potentially deadly virus isn’t enough, there are these added incentives to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Gene therapy appears to cure “bubble boy disease”
A new gene therapy designed to treat children with ADA-SCID, a form of “bubble boy disease,” was incredibly successful in trials.
Ketamine infusion: What it’s like and how it works
Ketamine infusion therapy takes the anesthetic from dance floors to depression clinics. But how does the drug work, and what is it like?
1 billion genetically modified mosquitoes will be released in the U.S.
Oxitec recently released genetically modified mosquitoes on three of the Florida Keys. The idea is that they will curb the spread of diseases by decreasing populations of Aedes aegypti.
This new gene editing technology rivals CRISPR
Researchers find a new gene-editing technology using retrons from bacterial DNA.
These "Nanotraps" can capture SARS-CoV-2
Inspired by cancer cells, researchers have developed “Nanotraps” which lock up SARS-CoV-2 for the immune system to kill it.
Hidden Brain podcast's Shankar Vedantam: Why the truth is not always helpful
His new book explores the benefits of self-deception.
MDMA for PTSD just crushed its phase 3 trial
Results from the first phase 3 trial of using MDMA for PTSD along with talk therapy found the drug to be effective.
Supercentenarians’ DNA reveals clues to human longevity
A human longevity study involving people over the age of 105 has found that genetic variants linked to DNA repair appear to contribute to a longer life.
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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