Science

A Newer, Faster Way To Detect Norovirus In Water Supplies

2:02pm August 27, 2019

by Joe Palca

Norovirus sickens tens of millions of people each year. They get the disease from contaminated food or water. Engineers have developed a rapid, inexpensive test to detect the virus in water supplies.

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Among patients age 12 and older in a study of people with mild, persistent asthma, more than half did just as well, or better, on a placebo as they did on a steroid inhaler used twice per day to prevent symptoms.

Study Questions Mainstay Treatment For Mild Asthma

6:25am August 26, 2019

by April Dembosky

Many of the 26 million Americans with asthma use a low-dose steroid inhaler daily to prevent symptoms. But a recent study raises questions about this strategy for people with mild, persistent asthma.

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Science

Getting Coral To Reproduce

8:46am August 25, 2019

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Florida Aquarium's lead coral scientist Keri O'Neil about getting stone coral to repeatedly reproduce in a lab setting. This could help save global coral populations.

All the portraits hanging on the wall inside the Louis Bornstein Family Amphitheater at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston on June 12, 2018 were of men, nearly all white. The portraits have since been removed.

Academic Science Rethinks All-Too-White 'Dude Walls' Of Honor

8:46am August 25, 2019

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Historic portraits of revered scientists and doctors can be found all over medical schools and universities — and, as it happens, most feature white men. Some say this sends the wrong message.

Robots Compete In Disaster Test

8:06am August 25, 2019

by Kathleen Davis

Robotics teams from all over the country compete in Pennsylvania in the Subterranean Challenge to see whose robot performs best in a simulated mine disaster scenario.

Researchers in Nigeria are participating in an African effort to develop a biobank that reflects the rich genetic diversity of Africa.

Lack Of Diversity In Genetic Databases Hampers Research

11:36pm August 22, 2019

by Richard Harris

Scientists around the world are working to correct a problem with genetic health information — too much of it is currently based on samples of Europeans.

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Science

Scientists In New York Are Trying To Edit The DNA In Human Sperm

5:46pm August 22, 2019

by Rob Stein

NPR got exclusive access to the only lab known to be trying to edit the DNA in human sperm, which raises all the same thorny issues as modifying genes in human embryos

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Mount Sinai Health System 2017 Crystal Party

How Dr. Kenneth Davis Turned the Mount Sinai Health System Around

4:42pm August 22, 2019

The neurobiologist oversaw one of the largest financial turnarounds in academic medicine.

Astrocyte cells like these from the brain of a mouse may differ subtly from those in a human brain.

Subtle Differences In Brain Cells Hint at Why Many Drugs Help Mice But Not People

4:36pm August 22, 2019

by Jon Hamilton

A detailed comparison of mouse and human brain tissue found differences that could help explain why mice aren't always a good model for human diseases.

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News Brief: Federal Deficit, New Immigration Policy, DNA Experiment

6:43am August 22, 2019

The Congressional Budget Office revises its federal deficit estimate. New policy would allow the government to indefinitely detain children with their families. And, the results of a DNA experiment.

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