Health & Safety

To find the path to long life and health, Dan Buettner studies the world's "Blue Zones," communities whose elders live longer than anyone else on the planet.

New charities pop up all the time. But how do you know which ones work? Economists have come up with a strategy to figure it out. They've used it to tackle one of the biggest problems in the world.

Cambridge researcher Aubrey de Grey argues that aging is merely a disease — and a curable one at that.

What controls aging? Biochemist Cynthia Kenyon has found a genetic mutation that can more than double the lifespan of a tiny worm, which points to how we might one day significantly extend human life.

Medical ethicist Harvey Fineberg says "neo-evolution" is on the horizon. When it becomes easier to eliminate disease through gene therapy, will we change the trajectory of evolution?

The World Health Organization isn't ready for the next pandemic or international health crisis, so the agency's leader is calling for major reforms. But will the changes be enough?

Stephanie Packer's debilitating illnesses leave her in a lot of pain. But she is opposed to a California bill that would legalize physician-assisted suicide.

Avian influenza is ravaging poultry flocks across the Upper Midwest. The virus is "doing things we've never seen it do before," and understanding about transmission is very limited, a scientist says.