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Innovation / Health & Medicine

Allene Goodenough (right) and Helyn James of the Young Women's Christian Association mop up a spot on the sidewalk where someone expectorated by an anti-spitting sign during a public health campaign in Syracuse, New York, in 1900.

Women Who Shaped History

When a Women-Led Campaign Made It Illegal to Spit in Public in New York City

While the efficacy of the spitting policy in preventing disease transmission was questionable, it helped usher in an era of modern public health laws

By detecting the genetic traces of cancer cells in a patient's blood, medical scientists could open the door to easier diagnosis and more effective treatments.

How Simple Blood Tests Could Revolutionize Cancer Treatment

The latest DNA science can match tumor types to new treatments, and soon, a blood test might be able to detect early signs of cancer

Axolotls can regrow lost limbs, again and again, making them appealing to scientists who want to understand regeneration.

Some Salamanders Can Regrow Lost Body Parts. Could Humans One Day Do the Same?

In recent decades, the idea of human regeneration has evolved from an ‘if’ to a ‘when’

Each year, people need to get a new flu shot to protect against the latest version of the influenza virus, which rapidly mutates. A universal flu vaccine could protect people for life.

As the World Faces One of the Worst Flu Outbreaks in Decades, Scientists Eye a Universal Vaccine

A universal flu vaccine would eliminate the need for seasonal shots and defend against the next major outbreak

A "living machine" containing frog stem cells in a new configuration designed by a computer algorithm. Parts shown in green are made up of frog skin cells, while parts in red are frog heart cells.

Scientists Assemble Frog Stem Cells Into First ‘Living Machines’

The so-called ‘xenobots’ could replace traditional metal or plastic robots without polluting the planet, but they raise ethical questions

Rumor has it the Manta5 Hydrofoil Bike is extremely fun to ride.

Eight Remarkable Inventions Unveiled at This Year’s CES

From a smart grill to a bike that rides on water, these were the coolest—and strangest—gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show

(Clockwise from left) Michela Puddu, Elias Sime, Richard Yim and Miranda Wang

Eight Innovators to Watch in 2020

From plastic recycling pioneers to landmine foes, these dreamers have big plans for the coming year

Strains of Streptomyces bacteria, found in soil, grow in a lab at Swansea University in Wales. They're so new to science they haven't been named.

Soil From a Northern Ireland Graveyard May Lead Scientists to a Powerful New Antibiotic

An ancient legend could provide a new weapon in the fight against deadly bacteria

Microneedle patches, like this one that measures about a centimeter across, could be used to deliver nanoparticles when pressed to the skin for two minutes.

This Spiky Patch Could Invisibly Record Vaccination History Under Skin

But the technology raise several ethical concerns that could stymie its progress

Bioluminescent "sea fireflies," a species of ostracod crustacean, covering the rocks on the coast of Okayama, Japan.

How Studying Bioluminescent Creatures Is Transforming Medical Science

The natural light of insects and sea creatures can help doctors illuminate H.I.V. and even kill cancer cells

Ewelina Mamcarz and Stephen Gottschalk developed a treatment for babies born without an immune system.

American Ingenuity Awards

These Scientists May Have Found a Cure for ‘Bubble Boy’ Disease

A newly developed gene therapy is saving young people afflicted by the rare but deadly diagnosis

The researchers turned living human skin cells into a liquid "bio ink."

Scientists 3-D Print Skin That Develops Working Blood Vessels

A promising new technique could lead to lasting skin grafts after burns or other injuries

The Human Microbiome Project defined nine sites in the mouth. Each provides a habitat for a distinct set of bacterial communities.

By Studying Mouth Bacteria, Scientists Hope to Learn the Secrets of Microbiomes

Communities of bacteria and other microbes in the human mouth can help researchers learn how these groups of organisms affect human health

Mark Prausnitz holds an experimental microneedle contraceptive skin patch. Designed to be self-administered by women for long-acting contraception, the patch could provide a new family planning option.

Will Microneedle Patches Be the Future of Birth Control?

Researchers are developing a new long-acting, self-administered device that delivers hormones beneath the skin’s surface

By genetically modifying a patient's own immune cells to target and kill cancer cells, CAR-T therapy offers a whole new way to fight cancer.

The Possibilities and Risks of Genetically Altering Immune Cells to Fight Cancer

Of the ten or so patients I’ve treated with CAR-T, over half developed strange neurologic side effects ranging from headaches to seizures

In Pursuit of Better Baby Formula

Replicating human milk is no easy feat—nor is separating the science from the hype

X-ray images at top left show the drug-delivery capsule in the intestine, before and after the arms expand. At right, the arms are unfolded to reveal the microneedles.

A ‘Microneedle’ Pill You Can Swallow Could Replace Insulin Shots

The pill passes through the stomach into the small intestine, where it opens to painlessly inject drugs into the bloodstream

The bacterium Escherichia coli, shown here, moves itself with propeller-like structures called flagella; it is one of the mobile microbes scientists have linked to cargo-carrying structures to form biohybrid microrobots.

How Tiny, Microbe-Propelled Bots Could Deliver Drugs in Our Bodies

Researchers are developing ‘hybrid biological microrobots’ to target cancer and do other work in the body

Visualization of a diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measurement of a human brain. Depicted are reconstructed fiber tracts that run through the mid-sagittal plane.

The Gut Microbiome Could Speed Up the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease

The microbes in the gastrointestinal tract influence the immune system and the brain, possibly playing a role in the development of Alzheimer’s

In groundbreaking clinical trials, researchers are trying to treat patients by editing the genetic makeup of cells with a tool called CRISPR.

Four U.S. CRISPR Trials Editing Human DNA to Research New Treatments

Breaking down how the gene editing technology is being used, for the first time in the United States, to treat patients with severe medical conditions

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