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Touching personal medical stories are no substitute for science

4 April 2018

Routine screening for prostate cancer seems like a good thing, but for every life saved many more are blighted by unnecessary treatments

Old Scientist: Safety first, from fly killer to plutonium

4 April 2018

There are a terrifying number of ways to be unsafe, as a look through the April archives of New Scientist shows

The End of Epidemics: It's all about the money

4 April 2018

A new book's ambitious plan to spot and stop global epidemics is easier said than done unless governments show willing and fund a real scheme to do just that

How medicine got too good for its own good

4 April 2018

We’re detecting problems too early and convincing healthy people they’re sick – it’s time to rethink medical diagnosis, says physician H. Gilbert Welch

Ten ‘one-stop shop’ cancer diagnosis centres planned for England

3 April 2018

England is to get specialist cancer diagnosis centres, which aim to more quickly diagnose people who have non-specific symptoms like weight loss and fatigue

Estonia to give genetic testing and advice to 100,000 residents

2 April 2018

Estonia is to become the first nation to give state-sponsored genetic advice on health and disease risks, and plans to extend the scheme to all its residents

Virtual reality surgery lets trainee doctors practise operations

31 March 2018

A virtual reality simulator for training junior surgeons seems to make them better equipped to cut open real patients

GM worms make a super-silk completely unknown in nature

30 March 2018

Thanks to a spot of genetic hacking, silkworms can make a new form of silk not found in nature that includes a synthetic amino acid. It could be used in medicine

Autoimmune disorder lupus may be triggered by body’s bacteria

28 March 2018

Some of the bacteria that live in our bodies seem to kick-start the autoimmune disorder lupus. In the future, targeted antibiotics might help treat the condition

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Novichok attack tests the world's chemical weapons treaty

27 March 2018

We have the international tools to resolve uncertainties over the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal – but they will only work if Russia cooperates