Pediatric epigenetic clocks have the potential to accurately assess biological age. However, possible applications in law enforcement and immigration raise ethical issues.
Concerned about rising cases and spread of Lassa fever, the Nigerian Academy of Science has called on government to declare it a national health emergency.
Genome sequencing technologies have transformed biological research in many ways, but have had a much smaller effect on the treatment of common diseases.
Addiction to cocaine is wildly difficult to conquer. But physicians may soon have a new type of gene therapy for patients that makes the drug less alluring.
Anthrax is best known as a bioweapon. But researchers have figured out how to tweak the deadly toxin and use it to fight cancer. So far, dogs are the first to benefit from the new therapy.
Joaquin Phoenix has previously been mocked for a facial scar that some have assumed is a cleft lip. Two geneticists and a surgeon explain what causes this common birth defect.
Vitamin D is essential for good health and particularly for fighting infections and keeping the microbes in the human gut healthy. But in winter it can be difficult to get enough.
Bioprinting, an offshoot of 3D printing, is advancing so rapidly that regulators have been caught off guard. Two legal scholars argue patients and manufacturers would benefit from clearer rules.
Norovirus, the winter vomiting bug, is highly infectious among people in confined places – like cruise ships. But not everyone is equally vulnerable. Your blood type may determine if you get sick.
Most women in the US give birth lying flat on their back, anesthetized. An obstetrician investigates why this is and whether this is always the best approach.
SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne