Medicine

Cancer cells divide much more frequently than most normal cells. Most chemotherapy drugs are designed to interfere with cell division, thereby targeting harmful cells while attempting to leave healthy cells alone.

In recent years, researchers have discovered ticks can induce spontaneous meat allergies in people they bite, a particularly problematic condition for previous meat lovers. This 18-minute podcast from RadioLab breaks down the cause.

Analysis of Maya dental sealants shows they used plant resins and gums—some derived from pine with antibacterial properties—suggesting gemstone tooth inlays may have helped reduce infection while serving ritual and symbolic purposes.

Gravity can cause gaps, such as those in the chambers of a 3D-printed heart, to collapse before stem cells, hydrogels, and biochemicals bind together during the bioprinting process. Rather than Earth's surface, some bioprinting is done on the International Space Station, where defective organs are also printed to test treatment methods.

An interactive exploration of a small town, a chemical plant and the residents’ desperate fight for clean air.

Contemporary patients and medical students take the placebo effect for granted, as its a standard element in most drug trials. But the concept was only first debated and standardized in the 1950s after a ground-breaking 1955 paper by medical...

Lasers are used when scanning groceries, printing documents or undergoing cosmetic procedures to enhance efficiency, precision and accuracy. Missile defense, targeting and optical communication systems have made using laser technology habitual in the military.

What's the difference between opioids and psychedelics? This guide details specific drugs and their various associated effects. Drugs in this wheel fall into seven categories: stimulants, depressants, empathogens, psychedelics, dissociatives, cannabinoids, and opioids.

Amid the severe conditions of World War II, researchers were eager to learn the effects of starvation in a controlled study. This podcast dives into a yearlong study of 36 men at a Minneapolis college who endured a six-month period of semi-starvation, where their caloric intake was halved. Results from the experiment became a landmark study in human starvation.

Since the dawn of pain, living things have sought ways to mitigate this evolutionary warning signal. One of nature's most effective painkillers is opium, a highly addictive, milky latex extracted from poppy plants. This forms the basis of one of the most prescribed classes of modern drugs.