Shots

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

A Washington, D.C., resident has an operation growing psilocybin mushrooms. Brain researchers are increasingly studying psychedelic compounds like psilocybin and LSD as potential treatments for anxiety, depression and other disorders. Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption

When women get a blood test during pregnancy that looks at free-floating DNA, they expect it to tell about the health of the fetus. But the test sometimes finds signs of cancer in the mother. Isabel Seliger for NPR hide caption

Katie Pope Kopp, 64, of Parkville, Mo., at Union Station in Kansas City this week. Kopp underwent a new form of experimental CAR T-cell therapy that used the CRISPR gene-editing technique to treat her non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The cancer has been in remission for over a year. Barrett Emke for NPR hide caption

Antonio Rapuano got an infusion of a monoclonal antibody to treat his COVID in Albano, Italy in 2021. Such infusions have been effective treatments for COVID during the pandemic, but doctors are now finding that most monoclonal antibodies no longer work against new variants of SARS-CoV-2. Yara Nardi/Reuters hide caption

A doctor points to PET scan results that are part of Alzheimer's disease research. Much work in the field focuses a substance called beta-amyloid. A new study could test whether that's the right target. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption

After a dose of ketamine, special video games that offered a depressed player positive feedback, in the form of smiling faces or encouraging words, seemed to boost the length of time the drug quelled depression. akinbostanci/Getty Images hide caption