Latest Medical research News
23andMe cuts 40% of its workforce and discontinues therapeutics division
NEW YORK (AP) — 23andMe is laying off 40% of its workforce, or more than 200 employees, and discontinuing its therapeutics division as the struggling genetic testing company attempts to slash costs. The latest restructuring efforts were announced by 23andMe on Monday. The company...
50 years after Philadelphia halted prison medical testing, families seek reparations
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Fifty years ago, Philadelphia prison officials ended a medical testing program that had allowed an Ivy League researcher to conduct human testing on incarcerated people, many of them Black, for decades. Now, survivors of the program and their descendants want reparations. ...
Researchers in a lab near Lake Erie study how toxic algae can damage health
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Steven Haller remembers the look of fear on people's faces when toxic algae in Lake Erie made it into his community's water supply 10 years ago, shutting it down for two days. Since then, Haller, a clinical researcher in the University of Toledo's department of...
Faith-based environmental groups take on fossil fuels as 'a sacred duty'
(RNS) — In mid-September, Val Smith, chief sustainability officer at Citigroup, one of the United States’ Big Four of banking, met with four religious environmental activists to discuss the company’s record on fossil fuel investment. In 2021, Citi had pledged to reach net-zero...
With brain injuries a growing problem, the US military tests how to protect troops from blasts
WASHINGTON (AP) — The blast shook the ground and its red flash of fire covered the doorway as U.S. special operations forces blew open a door during a recent training exercise. Moments later, in their next attempt, the boom was noticeably suppressed and the blaze a bit smaller,...
Dense breasts can make it harder to spot cancer on a mammogram
When a woman has a mammogram, the most important finding is whether there’s any sign of breast cancer. The second most important finding is whether her breasts are dense. Since early September, a new U.S. rule requires mammography centers to inform women about their...
Nobel Prize in chemistry honors 3 scientists who used AI to design proteins — life's building blocks
LONDON (AP) — Three scientists who discovered powerful techniques to decode and even design novel proteins — the building blocks of life — were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday. Their work used advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, and holds the potential to...
Bakery that makes Sara Lee and Entenmann's pushes back on FDA sesame warning
A top U.S. commercial bakery is pushing back on a Food and Drug Administration warning to stop using labels that say its products contain sesame — a potentially dangerous allergen — when they don't. Bimbo Bakeries USA, which includes brands such as Sara Lee, Entenmann's and Ball...
Don't expect human life expectancy to grow much more, researcher says
NEW YORK (AP) — Humanity is hitting the upper limit of life expectancy, according to a new study. Advances in medical technology and genetic research — not to mention larger numbers of people making it to age 100 — are not translating into marked jumps in lifespan overall,...
Nobel Prize in medicine honors 2 scientists for their discovery of microRNA
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for their discovery of microRNA, tiny bits of genetic material that serve as on and off switches inside cells that help control what the cells do and when they do it. If scientists can better...
