
7 Important Health Stories to Watch in 2026
From immune cell therapies to measles outbreaks to federal attacks on public health, these are some of the health topics we’ll be watching next year

7 Important Health Stories to Watch in 2026
From immune cell therapies to measles outbreaks to federal attacks on public health, these are some of the health topics we’ll be watching next year

From Agency Chaos to Dark Energy Shocks: How Politics, Health, Climate Policy and Space Science Defined 2025
A look back at 2025’s biggest science stories—from federal upheaval and public health setbacks to climate policy reversals and groundbreaking discoveries in space.


Trump Administration Moves to Severely Curtail Access to Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
Health officials on Thursday announced a slew of measures that seek to restrict access to gender-affirming health care for young transgender people in the U.S.

Harsh Flu Season May Be Driven by New Variant K
A novel influenza variant called subclade K appears to be driving an uptick in cases and hospitalizations throughout the U.S. and other countries

A Hobbit Mystery Is Solved, 2025 Nears a Climate Record, and More Parents Refuse Vitamin K for Newborns
This week’s science roundup covers 2025’s near-record heat, a new mpox strain and fresh clues about why hobbits vanished 50,000 years ago.

Trump Officials Keep Comparing the U.S.’s Vaccine Schedule to Denmark’s. They’re Missing the Point
The U.S.’s and Denmark’s health systems are starkly different, so it makes sense that their vaccination schedules would differ, too

Health Experts Slam Possible FDA ‘Black Box’ Warning for COVID Vaccines
The FDA is reportedly considering the addition of high-level warning labels to COVID vaccines, a move that some experts say may cause unfounded concerns over safety

Measles Outbreaks Accelerate as U.S. Inches Closer to a Disease Tipping Point
More than 1,900 people, mostly children, have been sickened by measles in the U.S. in 2025. The outbreaks are moving the country toward losing its measles-free status by early next year

Scientists Explain How mRNA COVID Vaccines May Rarely Cause Myocarditis
A new study identifies a mechanism for how COVID vaccines may, in infrequent cases, drive heart inflammation, a condition that can be caused by the disease itself

CDC Formally Drops Guidance for Universal Hepatitis B Shots at Birth
New guidance from the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel scraps a decades-old universal birth dose recommendation for hepatitis B that helped cut infections by 99 percent in the U.S.

CDC Vaccine Panel in Disarray over Hepatitis B Vote
Members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices seemed confused about a proposed recommendation for the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine

Scientists Pinpoint Gene in Sperm That May Be Key to Male Infertility
Without the gene Poc5, male mice produced no viable sperm, pointing to a possible link to infertility