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If I have a disease-causing gene, should my doctor tell my family?

28 August 2019

Genetic testing is undermining medical norms as people sue their doctors for either telling them or not telling them a relative’s diagnosis, says Laura Spinney

It’s time to change our approach to 'psychosomatic' illness

3 April 2019

Doctors have started making sense of a group of mystery conditions where people experience symptoms, but medical tests suggest nothing is physically wrong

There may be five kinds of diabetes, not just types 1 and 2

1 March 2018

Researchers propose splitting diabetes into five subtypes instead of the current type 1 and type 2 diagnoses. It may help, but we need to know much more

Anti-vax views must not derail France's compulsory vaccine law

12 December 2017

The nation is about to make 11 childhood vaccines mandatory, but unless anti-vax echo chambers are tackled, the law may not fulfil its promise, says Laura Spinney

Gene tweak in gut bacteria could turn faeces blue if you’re ill

30 May 2017

Giving bacteria genes to make them change colour when mice have gut disorders turns mouse droppings blue in lab tests. It could theoretically work in humans

Memo to whoever lands the world's top health job – do this first

16 May 2017

The World Health Organization is picking its next leader to ease sickness and suffering. Here's what the new chief should prioritise, says Bjorn Lomborg

First timeline of a cancer tracks tumours from origin to spread

11 May 2017

One man’s bowel cancer has been tracked from the very start to the very end, revealing some of the surprising ways in which the disease spreads through the body