Shots

In a close vote, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended approval of a gene therapy for muscular dystrophy developed by Sarepta Therapeutics. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images hide caption

Susan and Chris Finazzo have enrolled their sons Dylan and Chase in a study of gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The experimental treatment is still being studied but researchers hope it may help prevent the devastating effects of the disease. Natalia de la Rosa Reyes/Susan Finazzo hide caption

Misoprostol is typically used as part of a two-drug protocol for a medication abortion. But it is also safe and effective when used alone, doctors say. ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Scientists say they have sequenced the genome of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Mora Leeb places some pieces into a puzzle during a local puzzle tournament. The 15-year-old has grown up without the left side of her brain after it was removed when she was very young. Seth Leeb hide caption

In London to address a gene-editing summit last week, Victoria Gray took a break to visit Sir John Soane's Museum. In 2019, Gray became the first patient to be treated for sickle cell disease using CRISPR, an experimental gene-editing technique. She was invited to talk about her experiences at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing. Orlando Gili for NPR hide caption

What looks like a pin-headed critter on the right is actually a larval version of the fruit fly on the left. Both have remarkably complex brains, scientists say, with different regions devoted to decision-making, learning and navigation. Ed Reschke/Getty Images hide caption

Researchers meeting in London this week concluded that techniques that have made it easier to manipulate DNA still produce too many mistakes for scientists to be confident any children born from edited embryos (such as these, photographed in 2018) would be healthy. Mark Schiefelbein/AP hide caption

Registered nurse Jamie Simmons speaks with a patient during an appointment at the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center in Massachusetts. The patient, whose first name is Kim, says buprenorphine has helped her stay off heroin and avoid an overdose for nearly 20 years. Jesse Costa for KHN hide caption

This hole was made in a Bronze Age man's skull shortly before he died, archaeologists say, based on several clues. It's the result of a surgical procedure called a trephination. Kalisher et al., 2023/PLOS ONE hide caption

Research participant Heather Rendulic prepares to grasp and move a can of tomato soup at Rehab Neural Engineering Labs at the University of Pittsburgh. Tim Betler/UPMC and University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences hide caption

Both the branded and generic versions of Adderall, a prescription amphetamine that treats attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other conditions, have been in short supply in the U.S. since October. Jb Reed/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

If the brain is a musical instrument, "the electrophysiology is the music," says Dr. Alexander Khalessi. New tools to treat epilepsy patients now let doctors "listen to the music a little bit better." Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library/Getty Images hide caption

"I was much less self-assured now that I was a patient myself," says neurosurgeon Henry Marsh. "I suddenly felt much less certain about how I'd been [as a doctor], how I'd handled patients, how I'd spoken to them." Image Source/Getty Images hide caption

Licensed vocational nurse Denise Saldana vaccinates Pri DeSilva, associate director of Individual and Corporate Giving, with a fourth Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster at the Dr. Kenneth Williams Health Center in Los Angeles, Nov. 1, 2022. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption