Medical Technology1337 articles archived since 1845

Exposing the Student Body: Stanford Joins U.C. Berkeley in Controversial Genetic Testing of Students

Heated debate surrounds the ethics of the universities' decisions to analyze student DNA

100 Years Ago: Elegant Flight

Innovation and discovery as chronicled in past issues of Scientific American

Fact or Fiction: Artificial Reproductive Technologies Make Sick Kids

Assisted reproduction involves many manipulations in an unnatural lab environment. Does this handling have a detrimental effect on children?

Putting Addiction to Bed: Sleep Drugs Could Subdue Cravings, Too

New sleep aids block the activity of brain peptides called orexins, which play a role in addiction

Worts and All

False claims still pervade the supplements industry

Terminate the Terminators

Robots are now a fact of war, but the prospect of androids that can hunt and kill on their own should give us all pause

Genome Sequencing for the Rest of Us

Even as scans get faster and cheaper, many diseases still have unknown or sketchy genetic correlates. How much stock should consumers put in personal genome sequencing?

A genome story: 10th anniversary commentary by Francis Collins

For those of you who like stories with simple plots and tidy endings, I must confess the tale of the Human Genome Project isn't one of those. The story didn't reach its conclusion when we unveiled the first draft of the human genetic blueprint at the White House on June 26, 2000...

Morphine and Other Pain Relief Drugs Used in Cancer Surgery May Spur Return of Malignancy

Could the anesthesia and painkillers used to make operations and recovery bearable also influence the risk that cancer will return?

Making lungs in the lab

Implanted tissue and microchip mimic both perform functions of lung.

Vaccines Derived from Patients' Tumor Cells Are Individualizing Cancer Treatment

As researchers learn more about genetic profile of various cancers, other work is charging ahead to deliver personalized vaccines targeted to a patient's own tumor cells

Personalized Medicine in the Genomic Era

When the human genome draft was announced 10 years ago, many researchers and policymakers anticipated using the newly sequenced code to develop a wealth of diagnostic and treatment capabilities...

Vaccinomics: Scientists Are Devising Your Personal Vaccine

A new breed of vaccine is being developed that will make possible immunizations tailored to your genetic profile. But how long will it be until your personalized booster shots are ready?...

Cancer Therapy Goes Viral: Progress Is Made Tackling Tumors with Viruses

A new generation of oncolytic viruses are entering late-stage clinical trials, repurposing smallpox and herpesvirus to take on tough tumors

Strange lesions after stem-cell therapy

Unproven treatment results in mysterious masses.

Full genome sequence shows body lice have lousy sense of smell

Cyber Care: Will Robots Help the Elderly Live at Home Longer?

Companies are developing elder care bots with the hope of making people more independent later in life

Tissue.prn: Desktop Printer Technology Used to Lay Down Regenerated Skin Cells to Treat Burns in Mice

The same technology that office workers use daily to print documents can be transformed into a "bioprinter" that uses cells instead of ink

Vision Quest: Retinal Implants Deliver the Promise of Sight to Damaged Eyes

Emerging technologies successfully stimulate retinas ravaged by retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration and other diseases to give sufferers a new lease on light

Fake Botox, Real Threat

A booming market for a counterfeit beauty product could put a deadly biological weapons agent in the wrong hands