Research News

Careful custody of blood tests and tissue samples is essential to the success of precision medicine.

Precision Medical Treatments Have A Quality Control Problem

11:55am December 29, 2017

by Richard Harris

The goal is to customize treatments for cancer and other diseases to a patient's own biology. But something as simple as failing to take care of tissue samples en route to the lab can derail that.

Young bodies may more easily rebound from long bouts of sitting, with just an hour at the gym. But research suggests physical recovery from binge TV-watching gets harder in our 50s and as we get older.

Home For The Holidays? Get Off The Couch!

8:59am December 27, 2017

by Patti Neighmond

If you sit too much during middle age — at work and at home — your ability to exercise or even walk in late decades is at risk, research hints. And, of course, your risk of heart disease climbs, too.

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The Haunting Effects Of Going Days Without Sleep

4:59am December 27, 2017

by Shankar Vedantam

Decades ago, Randy Gardner stayed awake for 11 days. He broke a record in the process, but the teenage stunt has come back to haunt him. At 71, he offers wisdom about staying up past your bedtime.

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Why A Creatively Wrapped Gift Could Lead To Disappointment

2:02pm December 26, 2017

Did you invest a lot of energy in your gift wrap this holiday? A study shows that wrapping may raise expectations, and then heighten disappointment.

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Gene Editing Experiments In Mice May Help People Hear Too

8:16am December 23, 2017

by Rob Stein

Scientists use a new gene-editing technique to prevent mice destined to go deaf from losing their hearing. (This piece initially aired Dec. 20, 2017 on All Things Considered).

Jocelyne Bloch: The Brain May Be Able To Repair Itself — With Help

Jocelyne Bloch: After An Injury, Can The Brain Heal Itself?

3:34pm December 22, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

Neurosurgeon Jocelyne Bloch and her colleague were studying brain samples of head trauma patients when they made an amazing discovery — brain cells with the ability to generate new cells.

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How Humans Use 'Strategic Ignorance' When Facts Get In The Way

4:55am December 22, 2017

by Shankar Vedantam

Social science research explores how our minds push away information that gets in the way of our feelings and desires.

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Why Some Cities Are Better Than Others At Avoiding Gridlock

7:29am December 21, 2017

by Christopher Joyce

Just because a city is efficient at moving traffic around doesn't mean it's "traffic resilient." Scientists examined 40 cities and ranked them in terms of how they handle disruptions.

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Scientists used a new gene-editing technique to prevent a form of deafness in mice.

Scientists Use Gene Editing To Prevent A Form Of Deafness In Mice

6:06am December 21, 2017

by Rob Stein

Success with a new gene-editing technique in mice prone to deafness highlights the potential for using it to prevent a form of inherited hearing loss in humans. But it has many hurdles to overcome.

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Studying the penis of a thistle tortoise beetle may lead to a better design for medical catheters.

Beetle Penises May Hold Clues For Better Medical Devices

4:20pm December 20, 2017

by Rebecca Hersher

Thistle tortoise beetles have enormously long, hooked penises that are rigid in some parts and soft in others. Scientists hope studying the beetle penises could help people design better catheters.