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Science / Mind & Body

A human skull on display with earlier ancestor skulls and a picture of a Neanderthal man at the Museum of Natural History of Toulouse.

Human Ancestors May Have Evolved the Physical Ability to Speak More Than 25 Million Years Ago

Though when primates developed the cognitive abilities for language remains a mystery

The Ten Best Science Books of 2019

New titles explore the workings of the human body, the lives of animals big and small, the past and future of planet earth and how it’s all connected

Red blood cells imaged by a scanning electron microscope.

Harmful Bacteria Masquerade as Red Blood Cells to Evade the Immune System

Studying the stealthy strategy could help researchers develop new treatments for group A strep infections, which kill more than 500,000 people each year

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

Unlike classic CRISPR-based editing, which fully cleaves DNA in two, prime editing starts with a cut to only one strand of the double helix.

A New Gene Editing Tool Could Make CRISPR More Precise

Prime editing offers a new way to make changes to DNA while avoiding some of the drawbacks and clunkiness of traditional CRISPR

Soldiers take a psychological test (the exact type of examination is unclear) in Camp Lee in Virginia in November 1917, the year the United States entered World War I and Woodworth first developed his test.

The Future of Mental Health

The First Personality Test Was Developed During World War I

Long before online quizzes and Myers-Briggs, Robert Woodworth’s “Psychoneurotic Inventory” tried to assess recruits’ susceptibility to shell shock

This image shows a preliminary portrait of a juvenile female Denisovan based on a skeletal profile reconstructed from ancient DNA.

Scientists Recreate the Face of a Denisovan Using DNA

By mapping gene expressions, researchers can determine some anatomical features of our distant hominin relatives

Scientists are starting to get a better idea of how many factors can influence a newborn's gut microbiome.

Babies Born by C-Section Have Different Gut Microbes Than Vaginally Delivered Infants

Method of delivery can influence the bacteria in infants’ guts, according to a new study, but differences were found to disappear within nine months

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

Brain donation is of critical importance for scientists' understanding of brain disorders.

Inside a Brain Bank, Where Humans’ Most Precious Organ Is Dissected and Studied

Unlike organ transplants, brains are used primarily to support research of some of the most widespread and debilitating diseases in the world

The team has applied for a patent for the material (shown here in a petri dish) and continues to test it at the micro- and nano-scale to better understand how it works.

How Scientists Are Using Eggshells to Grow New Bone

People with bones damaged by accidents, cancer or aging could one day benefit from bone grafts strengthened with chicken eggshells

Sarah Stewart circa 1950.

Women Who Shaped History

The Woman Who Revealed the Missing Link Between Viruses and Cancer

Today, vaccinating against cervical cancer is routine. But before Sarah Stewart, scientists dismissed the idea of a cancer-preventing vaccine as ludicrous

The microbiome—a collection of organisms including bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses that live in the human gut—has been shown to play a significant role in brain function.

How the Gut Microbiome Could Provide a New Tool to Treat Autism

A growing body of evidence suggests the behavioral symptoms of autism spectrum disorder could be linked to bacteria in the gut

The lines scribbled over this famous Georges Seurat painting come from an experiment that tracked how the human eye jerks around as it takes in the details of the scene.

Our Eyes Are Always Darting Around, So How Come Our Vision Isn’t Blurry?

Our brains manage to construct stable images even as our eyes keep jerking around. Here’s what we know about how that happens.

A digitally-colorized scanning electron micrograph depiction of a Giardia lamblia protozoan caught in a late stage of cell division, producing a heart-shaped form. Most protozoa, or singled-celled eukaryotes, reproduce asexually, but there is evidence to suggest Giardia lamblia can reproduce sexually as well.

The Evolution of Sex Could Have Provided a Defense Against Cancer Cells

The first sexually reproducing organisms may have found that the energy-intensive enterprise bolstered defenses against malignant cells

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