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Medicine

Queen Elizabeth examines the bones of Charles Byrne in 1962.

Trending Today

Why the Skeleton of the “Irish Giant” Could Be Buried at Sea

Activists want the bones of Charles Byrne to be buried according to his wishes

HHV-6, one of the viruses found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

New Research

Childhood Virus May Have a Role in Alzheimer’s Disease

A study of 1,000 brains found two common types of herpes viruses were more prevalent in those suffering from the dementia-inducing disease

The bones were discovered at a very shallow depth, indicating that they had been disposed of in a hurry, and with little ceremony.

Newly Unearthed Civil War Bones Speak Silently to the Grim Aftermath of Battle

What the amputated limbs and full skeletons of a Manassas burial pit tell us about wartime surgical practices

New Research

Inca Skull Surgeons Had Better Success Rates Than American Civil War Doctors

Survival rates among later Inca cultures was significantly higher. However, the 19th-century soldiers were facing trauma caused by industrial-age warfare

No photos of Cole survive. Shown here is an anatomy lecture taught by pioneering female physician Elizabeth Blackwell at the Woman's Medical College of New York Infirmary, which she founded. Cole was the resident physician at the infirmary and later a sanitary visitor at Blackwell's Tenement House Service. Blackwell described Cole as “an intelligent young coloured physician [who] carried on this work with tact and care.”

Race in America

The Woman Who Challenged the Idea that Black Communities Were Destined for Disease

A physician and activist, Rebecca J. Cole became a leading voice in medical social services

It doesn’t look like a kidney, but this ‘kidney-on-a-chip’ is a breakthrough for new drug testing.

How Putting Organs on Chips Could Revolutionize Medicine

Scientists are now working to connect these ersatz “organs” together into systems

A researcher holds the skin printer

This Handheld Device Could Print New Skin Onto Burn Victims

The machine prints sheets of a skin substitute directly onto burn wounds, potentially making skin grafting faster, cheaper and easier

New Research

Hitler’s Teeth Confirm He Died in 1945

The first examination of Hitler’s teeth permitted in 70 years shows the complicated dental work matches the Fuhrer’s medical records

Joe, the "fat boy" from the Pickwick Papers.

The Case for Charles Dickens, the Science Communicator

A new exhibition dives into the Victorian novelist’s passion for science

A health care worker wears virus protective gear at a treatment center in Bikoro, Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the latest outbreak.

Can an Experimental Ebola Vaccine Put a Stop to the Latest Outbreak?

Over 4,000 doses of the vaccine have arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

New Research

These Lizards Evolved Toxic Green Blood

The strange trait has developed four separate times and may protect the skinks from certain malaria strains

U.S. Army surgeons grew an ear in a soldier's forearm before transplanting it to the head. The solider had lost her own ear during a car accident.

Doctors ‘Grow’ Ear for Transplant in Patient’s Forearm

The procedure is rare, but could potentially help many more patients who experience similar bodily damage

Henrietta Lacks (HeLa): The Mother of Modern Medicine by Kadir Nelson (detail, above) is on view at the National Portrait Gallery through November 4, 2018.

Women Who Shaped History

Famed for “Immortal” Cells, Henrietta Lacks is Immortalized in Portraiture

Lacks’s cells gave rise to medical miracles, but ethical questions of propriety and ownership continue to swirl

A Hangover Pill Is Working on Drunk Mice

The new antidote may lower blood alcohol levels, helping a hangover and preventing alcohol overdose deaths

Cool Finds

The Legendary Sultan Saladin Was Likely Killed by Typhoid

Reviewing historical accounts of his death, doctors and historians believe his sweating fits and weakness were brought on by the bacterial infection

Future of Art

Watch Cells Move Within Living Animals in This Breathtaking Footage

The new microscope technique incorporates cutting-edge technology to capture spectacular imagery of cellular activity

New Research

Did a Prehistoric Surgeon Practice on This Cow?

Though an early human likely created the hole, the reason why remains less clear

Immune system natural killer cell

Trending Today

Human Cell Atlas Releases First Major Data Set

The information includes data from over half a million immune cells from human cord blood and bone marrow

The tiny sensor

This Implantable Chip Could Monitor Alcohol Intake

Engineers have developed a tiny sensor that could potentially replace regular Breathalyzer or blood tests for patients in rehabilitation programs

The structure of herpes virus simplex 2, aka genital herpes

Art Meets Science

Herpes Is Kind of Beautiful, On the Molecular Level

This detailed visualization of the herpes virus is a step toward finding new treatments

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