Articles written by Laura Ungar
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Elon Musk says the first human has received an implant from Neuralink, but other details are scant
NEW YORK (AP) — According to Elon Musk, the first human received an implant from his computer-brain interface company Neuralink over the weekend. In a Monday post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Musk said that the patient received t...
Experimental gene therapy allows kids with inherited deafness to hear
Gene therapy has allowed several children born with inherited deafness to hear. A small study published Wednesday documents significantly restored hearing in five of six kids treated in China. On Tuesday, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia annou...
FDA approves 2 gene therapies for sickle cell. One is the first to use the editing tool CRISPR
Regulators on Friday approved two gene therapies for sickle cell disease that doctors hope can cure the painful, inherited blood disorder that afflicts mostly Black people in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration said the one-time treatments can...
People of African ancestry are poorly represented in genetic studies. A new effort would change that
Scientists are setting out to collect genetic material from 500,000 people of African ancestry to create what they believe will be the world's largest database of genomic information from the population. The hope is to build a new "reference genome"...
Post-Roe, Native Americans face even more abortion hurdles
A few months after South Dakota banned abortion last year, April Matson drove more than nine hours to take a friend to a Colorado clinic to get the procedure. The trip brought back difficult memories of Matson's own abortion at the same clinic in...
Genetic twist: Medieval plague may have molded our immunity
Our Medieval ancestors left us with a biological legacy: Genes that may have helped them survive the Black Death make us more susceptible to certain diseases today. It's a prime example of the way germs shape us over time, scientists say in a new...
High-flying experiment: Do stem cells grow better in space?
Researcher Dhruv Sareen's own stem cells are now orbiting the Earth. The mission? To test whether they'll grow better in zero gravity. Scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are trying to find new ways to produce huge batches of a...
What do we know about the new omicron mutant?
What do we know about the new omicron mutant? It's a descendent of the earlier super-contagious "stealth omicron" and has quickly gained ground in the United States. BA.2.12.1 was responsible for 29% of new COVID-19 infections nationally last week,...
Scientists finally finish decoding entire human genome
Scientists say they have finally assembled the full genetic blueprint for human life, adding the missing pieces to a puzzle nearly completed two decades ago. An international team described the first-ever sequencing of a complete human genome – the s...
Scientists worry virus variant may push up COVID cases in US
With coronavirus cases rising in parts of Europe and Asia, scientists worry that an extra-contagious version of the omicron variant may soon push cases up in the United States too. Experts are also keeping their eyes on another mutant: a rare...
Unraveling the biology of a mysterious condition: stuttering
Holly Nover grew up trying to hide her stutter. "I was very self conscious," said the 40-year-old St. Johns, Florida mom, whose 10-year-old son Colton also has a speech impediment. "So I developed habits to switch my words so it wouldn't be...
Omicron v. delta: Battle of coronavirus mutants is critical
As the omicron coronavirus variant spreads in southern Africa and pops up in countries all around the world, scientists are anxiously watching a battle play out that could determine the future of the pandemic. Can the latest competitor to the...
Hollowed out public health system faces more cuts amid virus
The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and lacks the resources to confront the worst health crisis in a century. Marshaled against a virus that has sickened at least 2.6 million in the U.S., killed more than 126,000 people and...
