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A woman protesting a California bills that removes personal belief exemptions for vaccines

Focus on liberty and purity may change anti-vax parents’ minds

4 December 2017

Why do some parents choose not to vaccinate their children against deadly diseases? The moral ideas of purity and liberty may play a role


An older person doing a crossword

Brain training game linked to lower dementia risk a decade later

16 November 2017

Could just ten sessions of brain training be enough to lower your risk of dementia by 29 per cent a decade later? A study suggests so, but some are sceptical


Fisherman opening sea urchins

Grow fake versions of rare delicacies like sea urchin at home

10 November 2017

Japanese meat culturing project goes beyond hamburger to copy problematic delicacies like sea urchin, foie gras - and someday maybe dinosaur


Kitchen counter bio-lab lets you make edible gloop from cells

Kitchen counter bio-lab lets you make edible gloop from cells

30 October 2017

A coffee machine pod-like system can synthesise food from packaged pods of plant cells. The system could let us make our own jam from weird and exotic plants


Trump signs memorandum on opioids

Opioid crisis: Trump suggests telling young people drugs are bad

27 October 2017

Trump has declared the US opioid crisis a national public health emergency. He thinks telling young people that it’s “really easy not to take them” will help


legal cannabis farm

Marijuana compounds made in GM yeast could help epilepsy

25 October 2017

Sneaking cannabis DNA into yeast can create enormous quantities of any marijuana component, from those with medical applications to the ones that get you high


A person with skin cream

Side effects are worse when we think medication looks expensive

5 October 2017

People have been found to experience stronger side effects when a treatment looks more expensive, according to a study of the nocebo effect


Pioneering gene therapy approved for leukaemia in the US

Pioneering gene therapy approved for leukaemia in the US

1 September 2017

CAR-T treatments fight cancer by genetically modifying a person’s own immune cells. A CAR-T therapy has now been approved by the FDA – but it costs $475,000


Immigrant protections have halved kids’ mental health problems

Immigrant protections have halved kids’ mental health problems

31 August 2017

A programme that protects some US immigrants from deportation has reduced anxiety disorders in their children. But Donald Trump may scrap the scheme next week


President Trump talking

Trump says he’ll declare US opioid epidemic a national emergency

11 August 2017

President Trump plans to declare the opioid crisis an emergency after all, a move that should free up funds. But how much, and how they’ll be used, is unclear


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