Medical Technology1337 articles archived since 1845

November 2010 Briefing Memo

It's Not Dementia, It's Your Heart Medication: Cholesterol Drugs and Memory

Why cholesterol drugs might affect memory

How Close Is a Universal Influenza Vaccine That Could Provide Lifelong Immunity with One Shot?

The rapidly mutating strains of flu virus have so far thwarted efforts to develop a vaccine that could knock out all varieties with a single injection, but recent advances suggest a synthetic solution...

New Real-Time Blood Monitoring May Lessen the Need for Transfusions During Surgery

An advance that tracks a patient's hemoglobin levels without drawing blood could drastically cut down the need for extra blood in the operating room

Revolution Postponed: Why the Human Genome Project Has Been Disappointing

The Human Genome Project has failed so far to produce the medical miracles that scientists promised. Biologists are now divided over what, if anything, went wrong—and what needs to happen next...

Stretchable Light-Emitting Sheets Could Form the Basis of Implantable Optoelectronics

By liberating tiny LEDs from their rigid backbones, researchers hope to produce a new class of biological sensors

Stem cell papers under suspicion

Duplicated plots may be at issue in a retracted stem cell study.

Expectations for stem cells undergo some reprogramming at annual research meeting

A Healthy Lifestyle Reduces Breast Cancer Risk for Women Either with or without a Genetic Predisposition

Women who followed weight, exercise and alcohol consumption guidelines had about the same lowered risk for getting breast cancer, even if they had a strong family history of the disease

Hormonal Help for Autism: A Dose of Oxytocin

Taking oxytocin boosts social skills in people with the asocial disorder

The 2010 Nobel Prizes

Scientific American covers this year's winners, whose work includes advances in the study of nanotechnology, the building of complex organic compounds, the development of in vitro fertilization and the understanding of "search friction" in the job market...

A View to a Kill: New Imaging Watches How Mitochondria Change During Disease

A new imaging technique shows how diseases work in real time

Virtual Revulsion Therapy: Pixelated Pests Help Treat Cockroach Phobia

Psychologists have started testing augmented reality as an enhanced form of virtual reality therapy for specific phobias

Regulators consider more rigorous examination of consumer genetic tests for serious diseases

Alternative Biomedical Treatments for Autism: How Good Is the Evidence?

Research on only one treatment is rigorous enough to earn an A grade

Chemistry Nobel Goes to Richard Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki for Technique to Build Complex Molecules

Richard Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for the development of new ways to synthesize complex organic molecules using palladium-catalyzed cross-couplings...

A Surge in CT and MRI Scans Has Not Boosted Diagnosis Rates

The use of CT and MRIs on people with traumatic injuries jumped threefold in 10 years, leaving some concerned about the long-term effects of increased radiation exposure

Natural Immunity: What Happens When We Simply See a Sick Person

Just looking at sick people protects against illness

Physiology or Medicine Nobel Prize Goes to Robert Edwards for IVF

85-year-old Englishman Robert Edwards wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his 20-year effort to develop in vitro fertilization. Steve Mirsky reports

Robert Edwards Wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for Pioneering In Vitro Fertilization [Update]

Edwards's work with Patrick Steptoe resulted in the first birth of a test-tube baby--Louise Brown in 1978