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Disease and Illnesses

Scientists raced to develop a specialized treatment for KJ Muldoon. 

In a Remarkable First, a Baby With a Rare Disease Receives Personalized Gene Therapy

Researchers say the CRISPR-based technique used could eventually be employed to treat more people with rare genetic diseases

New research is revealing how climate change is impacting our eyes.

Climate Change Is Threatening Eye Health in Disturbing Ways

Cataracts, pinkeye and other ocular disorders are linked to heat, air pollution and higher UV exposure

Most babesiosis infections are caused by blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks.

A Potentially Life-Threatening Disease Caused by Ticks Is Expanding to New Parts of America

Babesiosis typically occurs in the Northeast and the Upper Midwest, but new research suggests rare cases are emerging in the mid-Atlantic region including Delaware, Maryland and Virginia

Human wounds take longer to heal than the wounds of other mammals, researchers find. That could be because we have fewer hair follicles, and stem cells in hair follicles help regrow skin after an injury.

Human Evolution Traded Fur for Sweat Glands—and Now, Our Wounds Take Longer to Heal Than Those of Other Mammals

Even compared to chimpanzees, one of our closest relatives, humans’ scrapes and cuts tend to stick around for more than twice as long, new research suggests

Blood type, metabolism, exercise, shirt color and even drinking beer can make individuals especially delicious to mosquitoes.

Ask Smithsonian

Why Do Mosquitos Bite Some People More Than Others? Your Blood Type, Sweat Contents and Even Alcohol Consumption May Make You More Attractive to the Pesky Insects

Scientists are working hard to discover the factors that drive the blood-sucking insects to target certain individuals

Psychiatric neurosurgery, originally known as psychosurgery, involves operating on the brain to alter its function.

What Does the Future Hold for Psychiatric Brain Surgery?

For some patients, removing brain tissue can help treat OCD and other disorders. But ethical concerns remain

A cell culture plate with pluripotent stem cells, which can differentiate into any kind of cell in the body.

Stem Cell Therapies Could Treat Parkinson’s Disease by Rebuilding Lost Circuitry in the Brain, Studies Suggest

Two small clinical trials tested the safety of injecting stem cells into the brains of Parkinson’s patients and found no adverse effects

Researchers suggest fire-footed rope squirrels might be a "reservoir species" for mpox, capable of harboring and spreading the virus without becoming sick. Here, one is photographed in Kibale National Park, Uganda.

Squirrels, Not Monkeys, May Be the Animal Source of Mpox, Researchers Suggest

A preliminary study traces an mpox outbreak in a group of Ivory Coast monkeys to the fire-footed squirrel, indicating the rodent may be a natural reservoir for the virus

Illustration of a human cancer cell

How Do Cancer Cells Migrate to New Tissues and Take Hold?

Scientists are looking for answers about how these confounding trips, known as metastases, occur throughout the human body

A record number of sandhill cranes gathered in Nebraska in mid-March during their annual spring migration.

Record-High 736,000 Sandhill Cranes Flock to Nebraska During Spring Migration Peak—With No Signs of Bird Flu, Despite Concerns

After more than 1,500 of the lanky birds died in Indiana, wildlife biologists in Nebraska were on high alert for the virus—but so far, the visiting birds seem happy and healthy

Volunteers with the Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute in Santa Barbara, California, rescue a sick sea lion that's likely suffering from domoic acid poisoning.

Sea Lion Bites Surfer Amid One of the Worst Outbreaks of Domoic Acid Poisoning That California Wildlife Rescuers Can Remember

Sea lions, dolphins and birds are sick and dying because of a toxic algae bloom in Southern California—and animal care organizations are overwhelmed by the scale

More than a third of endometriosis patients are misdiagnosed with mental health conditions.

For Some Women With Serious Physical Ailments, Mental Illness Has Become a Scapegoat Diagnosis

Patients with difficult-to-diagnose conditions like endometriosis are often sent home with diagnoses like anxiety or bipolar disorder

The city of Potosí rests at high altitude in Bolivia.

Can Researchers Find Remedies for the Problems Created by High-Altitude Pregnancies?

In people not adapted to life at altitude, the sparse oxygen can impair fetal growth, causing issues that can last a lifetime

Reno’s downtown, where paved surfaces gather heat and buildings block cooling breezes, can feel stifling on a hot summer day.

Citizen Scientists Are Hitting the Streets of the Country’s Fastest-Warming Cities to Collect Detailed Temperature Data

The heat mapping of metros like Reno, Nevada, could be key to taming urban heat, saving lives and designing for a cooler future

Transplanting pig organs into people may soon become routine.

The Future of Transplanting Pig Organs in People

After years of research into xenotransplantation, the field is at a turning point—yet risks and ethical issues remain

Written in 1777, the letter from George Washington is expected to sell for $150,000.

You Can Buy a Rare Letter by George Washington Written at a Crucial Turning Point in the Revolutionary War

In the optimistic missive, Washington extols the revolutionary spirit of the American people—even in defeat—and makes a rare reference to the experimental smallpox inoculation that helped prevent outbreaks

William Henry Ellis traveled the world, made and lost millions, tried his hand at Texas politics, consulted with emperors, and met with the presidents of multiple countries.

Untold Stories of American History

Born Enslaved, This Black Millionaire Attempted to Colonize Mexico and Aspired to Be the Emperor of Ethiopia

William Henry Ellis masqueraded as a Mexican businessman, but he never shied away from his Black roots

Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague infections, all stemming from the Yersinia pestis bacterium.

On This Day in History

On This Day in 1900, the Bubonic Plague Hit the Continental United States, Spiraling Into an Epidemic That Killed 119 People

California officials denied—and tried to hide—the first plague epidemic that reached U.S. shores

Doctors at NYU Langone Health recently performed a transplant surgery using a gene-edited pig kidney. The patient, Towana Looney, is now more than two months out from surgery and recovering well,

FDA Approves Transplant Trials for Gene-Edited Pig Kidneys

Two biotechnology companies will begin testing the procedures in patients suffering from kidney failure

Arthur Ashe playing tennis against Dennis Ralston in 1964

On This Day in History

The Death of a Sports Legend on This Day in 1993 Changed How Americans Viewed AIDS

Tennis star Arthur Ashe achieved many firsts as a Black athlete. In the months leading up to his death, he thrust AIDS advocacy into the mainstream

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