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Disease

Scavengers like turkey vultures remove millions of tons of waste each year by consuming carrion.

Scavenger Animals Are in Trouble, and That Could Spell Bad News for Human Health

More than one-third of species that eat some amount of carrion are threatened or declining, a new analysis finds, and that could lead to a rise in zoonotic diseases

Experts say those patients at the highest risk of developing severe illness should get vaccinated.

Six Questions About Covid-19 Vaccines, Answered

Recent vaccination announcements have led to some confusion. Four physicians weigh in on who should get vaccinated and when

A computer illustration details dog roundworm (Toxocara canis). Humans can pick up the parasite when coming into contact with infected soil or feces.

How Worm-Inspired Treatments Are Inching Their Way Toward the Clinic

Infection by certain wrigglers may reduce inflammation and fight obesity and diabetes. Scientists are working to turn the findings into therapies

A dormitory at the San Servolo psychiatric hospital in Venice in the early 1900s

Tens of Thousands Were Treated for a Deadly Disease While Confined to Psychiatric Hospitals on These Two Venetian Islands

In the 19th and 20th centuries, San Servolo and San Clemente housed patients suffering from pellagrous insanity, a condition caused by a vitamin deficiency

A little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) is seen with white fuzz on its nose, a characteristic of the deadly white-nose syndrome.

A Fungal Disease Ravaged North American Bats. Now, Researchers Found a Second Species That Suggests It Could Happen Again

White-nose syndrome caused millions of bat deaths, and scientists are sounding the alarm that a second fungus could be disastrous if it reaches American wildlife

Researchers have used genomic sequencing to trace what they’re calling the “longest migration out of Africa.”

New Research

Scientists Use DNA to Trace Early Humans’ Footsteps From Asia to South America

Over thousands of years, humans from Eurasia trekked more than 12,400 miles to eventually reach the southernmost tip of South America, a new genetic investigation suggests

During its first year of service, Freedom House Amublance Service transported more than 4,600 patients across 5,800 calls, saving 200 lives.

These Trailblazing Black Paramedics Are the Reason You Don’t Have to Ride a Hearse or a Police Van to the Hospital

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Freedom House Ambulance Service set the standard for emergency medical care, laying the groundwork for the services available today

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

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

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

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

One of the toilets featured a granite slab with a hole in it and two stepping stones on either side.

Archaeologists Unearth 1,300-Year-Old Flush Toilets at a Palace Complex in South Korea

One of the toilets, likely used by the crown prince and his court ladies, may have drained directly into a nearby river

Researchers studied the impact of extreme heat on older adults' "epigenetic clocks," which measure aging-related changes to DNA.

Extreme Heat Could Make Older Adults Age Faster by Altering Their DNA, Study Finds

Researchers compared genetic markers of aging to daily temperature records in areas across the United States and found that elderly people exposed to more hot days showed more rapid biological aging

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

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

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