Health

Harvard geneticist George Church discussed the future of genetic engineering, including possible technological applications allowing new treatment techniques. He saw the potential to improve human health, revolutionize pest management, and perhaps even bring back the mammoth and other extinct species.

A small study from a group of Harvard-affiliated researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital investigates differences in how important brain structures are activated when women view images of their own children and their dogs.

A new form of gene therapy for boys with the life-threatening condition known as “bubble boy” disease appears to be both effective and safe, according to an international clinical trial run by a team from Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, and other institutions.

Harvard stem cell researchers announced a giant leap forward in the quest to find a truly effective treatment for type 1 diabetes, a disease that affects an estimated 3 million Americans.

Research led by Harvard investigators has found six new genes underlying coffee-drinking behavior.

A Harvard study finds that reduced resident work hours mandated by 2003 national reforms have not led to lower-quality physicians completing residency, as measured by hospital length of stay and inpatient mortality.

New research shows that trade is one of the major drivers of biodiversity among lizard species in the Caribbean islands.

The Dallas Ebola case was a black eye for emergency room workers who sent a Liberian man home even though they were told he had just arrived from the epidemic zone. But the case could act as a wake-up call for emergency workers around the country, panelists say.

Three nonprofits with strong Harvard ties have joined forces at the front lines of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

A study led by Harvard-affiliated researchers is the first to demonstrate that BET bromodomain-containing proteins help execute inflammation in the endothelium while inhibition of BET bromodomain can significantly decrease atherosclerosis in vivo.

New research by Harvard scientists shows how hummingbirds evolved a novel mechanism of taste.

In an advance against cancer metastasis, scientists at the Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have shown that a specially developed compound can impede multiple myeloma in mice from spreading to the bones.

Bangladesh has used stepped-up surveillance, an understanding of transmission routes, and expert advice on cultural and traditional practices to devise interventions against Nipah, an Ebola-like virus with a high mortality rate.

Using simple hydrodynamics, a team of Harvard researchers was able to show that a handful of principles govern how virtually every animal — from the tiniest fish to birds to the largest whales — propel themselves through the water.

A new study shows that chimps engage in violent and sometimes even lethal behavior regardless of human effects on local ecology.

Panelists at the School of Public Health called for a stronger communications effort by physicians to counter misinformation on vaccines.

Harvard researchers working at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have uncovered nine rare genetic mutations that dramatically increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The discovery of the mutations highlights the dizzying genetic diversity of a disease rapidly spreading around the world.

A Harvard Stem Cell Institute study comparing how blood stem cells and leukemia cells consume nutrients found that cancer cells are far less tolerant of shifts in their energy supply than their normal counterparts. The results suggest there could be ways to target and kill cancer cells without affecting healthy cells.

The fight to end the Ebola epidemic is not just about saving lives, it’s also about heading off a potentially broader humanitarian crisis, according to a Harvard Kennedy School panel.

Researchers uncovered a variety of features in the genomes of five species of African cichlid fish that enabled them to thrive in new habitats and ecological niches. The findings from these “natural mutants” shed new light on the molecular process of evolution in all vertebrate species.

For 30 years, the Victims of Violence program at Harvard-affiliated Cambridge Health Alliance has been a force in trauma care.

Harvard scientists have developed a new test for sickle cell disease that provides results in just 12 minutes and costs as little as 50 cents — far faster and cheaper than other tests.

Research led by a Harvard biologist demonstrated a method for measuring the strength of selection in favor of reproductive isolation.

Dietary quality in the United States has improved steadily in recent years, but overall dietary quality remains poor and disparities continue to widen among socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health.

A team of researchers from the Broad Institute, Harvard University, and elsewhere has sequenced and analyzed dozens of Ebola virus genomes in the present outbreak. Their findings could have important implications for rapid field diagnostic tests.

Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital are reporting that xenon gas, used in humans for anesthesia and diagnostic imaging, has the potential to be a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other memory-related disorders

In the Hunnewell Building is the Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library, whose books, papers, and photographs ― stored near living collections of many of the same plants they describe ― draw scholars from around the world.

A new study conducted by Harvard scientists shows that in deer mice, a species known to be highly promiscuous, sperm clump together to swim in a more linear fashion, increasing their chances of fertilization.

The protective gear needed to get Sierra Leone’s health clinics reopened, coupled with public education about the Ebola epidemic, are the greatest areas of need, according to a Harvard Fulbright Fellow and physician from Sierra Leone.

A new study sheds light on the extent to which animals can make distinctions among scents.