"I'm ecstatic. It's a blessing that they approved this therapy," said Victoria Gray, the first person in the U.S. to undergo CRISPR gene-editing for sickle cell, of the Food and Drug Administration's decision. Orlando Gili hide caption
Treatments : Shots - Health News Here you can find out how the practice of medicine is changing. We pull together the latest research on medical tests, drugs and other therapies.
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An artistic rendering of deep brain stimulation. Scientists are studying this approach to see if it can treat cognitive impairment that can arise after a traumatic brain injury and other conditions. Andrew Janson / Butson Lab, University of Utah/NIH Image Gallery hide caption
A little electric stimulation in just the right spot may bolster a damaged brain
Intermountain Residential in Helena, Montana, is one a handful of programs in the U.S. providing long-term behavioral health treatment for kids younger than 10. Administrators recently announced that staffing shortages are forcing them to downsize from 32 beds to 8, and the facility might have to close entirely. Shaylee Ragar/Montana Public Radio hide caption
For kids in crisis, it's getting harder to find long-term residential treatment
Montana Public Radio
For kids in crisis, it's getting harder to find long-term residential treatment
A doctor assesses a radio surgery treatment plan for a patient with lung cancer, using a 4D CAT scan. Lung cancer survival rates have increased lately. Ryan McFadden/MediaNews Group via Getty Images hide caption
Lung cancer survival rates rise, but low screening rates leave many people at risk
Preliminary results from a study show that gene-editing technology can be used to successfully treat a genetic disorder that increases the risk of heart disease. Gerardo Huitrón/Getty Images hide caption
For the first time, gene-editing provides hints for lowering cholesterol
Davey Bauer was near death six months ago after the flu and another bacterial infection wasted his lungs. Now he says he's feeling stronger each day as he recovers from a double lung transplant. José M. Osorio/Northwestern Medicine hide caption
A tornado damaged a Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in Rocky Mount, N.C., in July. The facility makes almost 25% of Pfizer's sterile injectable medicines used in the U.S. Sean Rayford/Getty Images hide caption
"It's really life-changing," says Victoria Gray, when describing the gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease that she received as part of a clinical trial in 2019. Orlando Gili for NPR hide caption
FDA advisers see no roadblocks for gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease
Dr. Michael Mansour, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, is testing an AI-enhanced database he uses to help make diagnoses. Craig LeMoult/GBH hide caption
Scientists have built an enormous atlas of the human brain that could help them chart a path toward preventing and treating many different neurological disorders. Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images hide caption
Scientists built the largest-ever map of the human brain. Here's what they found
Secretary-General of the Nobel Assembly Thomas Perlmann speaks in front of a picture of Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm on Monday. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Nobel Prize goes to scientists who made mRNA COVID vaccines possible
New research probes the relationship between certain genes and brain disorders like autism and schizophrenia. Jill George / NIH hide caption
Brain cells, interrupted: How some genes may cause autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia
Developing mouse egg cells glow on the computerized display of a microscope. These were grown using stem cells in Katsuhiko Hayashi's lab at Osaka University. Kosuke Okahara for NPR hide caption
There's high demand for this fall's COVID shots, which offer protection against circulating variants of omicron. But there's been some distribution hiccups. Rogelio V. Solis/AP hide caption
This year's COVID vaccine rollout is off to a bumpy start, despite high demand
Anti-abortion demonstrators gather outside Planned Parenthood's Water Street Health Center in Milwaukee on Monday, Sept. 2023. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin began offering abortions at the clinic that day after not doing so for more than a year. Margaret Faust/ WPR hide caption
Researchers looking for root causes of long COVID work in the autopsy suite inside the Clinical Center at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
A large study of an experimental Alzheimer's drug made by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Co. appears to slow worsening of the degenerative brain disease. Darron Cummings/AP hide caption
An experimental Alzheimer's drug outperforms one just approved by the FDA
Conception's chief scientific officer, Pablo Hurtado, examines very early primordial germ cells under a microscope in a company lab in Berkeley, California. Laura Morton for NPR hide caption
Startup aims to make lab-grown human eggs, transforming options for creating families
Scientists have shown that the antibiotic doxycycline can ward off illnesses like chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. It's a prevention tool called doxy-PEP. MirageC/Getty Images hide caption
Calliope Holingue is researching the microbiome among kids with autism. She's part of a growing field of research seeking to understand the gut-brain axis. Kennedy Krieger Institute hide caption
Hepatitis C can cause severe liver damage and leads to about 15,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. James Cavallini/BSIP/Universal Images hide caption
Hepatitis C can be cured. So why aren't more people getting treatment?
In patients with Alzheimer's disease, a substance called beta-amyloid can form toxic clumps in between neurons. Drugs like lecanemab are designed to remove amyloid-beta from the brain. National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health. hide caption
An Alzheimer's drug is on the way, but getting it may still be tough. Here's why
The Food and Drug Administration approved the first gene therapy to treat the most common form of muscular dystrophy. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images hide caption
In Huntington's disease, proteins form toxic clumps that kill brain cells. Stowers Institute for Medical Research hide caption