Treatment

Egyptians embalming a corpse.

The Gruesome History of Eating Corpses as Medicine

The question was not “Should you eat human flesh?” says one historian, but, “What sort of flesh should you eat?”

At the base of Mount Everest sits Everest ER, a medical clinic that deals with headaches, diarrhea, upper respiratory infections, anxiety and other physical ailments daily.

Inside the ER at Mt. Everest

Dr. Luanne Freer, founder of the mountain’s emergency care center, sees hundreds of patients each climbing season at the foot of the Himalayas

Alain Touwaide, a science historian in the botany department at the National Museum of Natural History, has devoted his career to unearthing lost knowledge.

What Secrets Do Ancient Medical Texts Hold?

The Smithsonian's Alain Touwaide studies ancient books to identify medicines used thousands of years ago

"We're just seeing the start of matching patients with the right drug and seeing rapid improvements," says Dr. Brian Druker.

A Triumph in the War Against Cancer

Oncologist Brian Druker developed a new treatment for a deadly cancer, leading to a breakthrough that has transformed medicine

The Pathway Home encourages its residents to go into the community. "The real test is when you go outside," explains program director Fred Gusman.

The Pathway Home Makes Inroads in Treating PTSD

An innovative California facility offers hope to combatants with post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries

Polymer fronds a few thousand nanometers long wrap around even tinier plymer spheres.

Can Nanotechnology Save Lives?

Harvard professor and scientific genius George Whitesides believes that nanotechnology will change medicine as we know it

Veterinary dentist Barron Hall was called to help a 15-year-old female western lowland gorilla who had a fractured tooth.

Q and A with Barron Hall, Veterinary Dentist

Root canals on cheetahs, lions and gorillas is just another day at the office for veterinary dentist Barron Hall

Conventional wisdom held that only a huge stretch of DNA could function as a gene. The discovery of an overlooked genetic entity upends that view. Croce "was stunned."

High Hopes for a New Kind of Gene

Scientists believe that microRNA may lead to breakthroughs in diagnosing and treating cancer

Citizens of Mexico City wear masks to prevent the spread of swine flu.

Dreading the Worst When it Comes to Epidemics

A scientist by training, author Philip Alcabes studies the etymology of epidemiology and the cultural fears of worldwide disease

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Heaven Scent

A 600-year-old pharmacy started by Florentine monks is now a trendy global marketer of perfumes and medieval elixirs

In a recent study, malaria-resistant mosquitoes —tipped off by their neon green eyes—faired better than typical wild insects after feeding on infected blood.

Can Mosquitoes Fight Malaria?

Scientists can build a mosquito that resists infection, but getting the insects to pass along the gene is a harder task

Samuel Johnson

Doctor Feelgood

Stricken by "vile melancholy," the 18th-century critic and raconteur Samuel Johnson pioneered a modern therapy

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Stem Cell Pioneers

Despite federal opposition to embryonic stem cell research, academic freedom and profits in California is luring scientists to the field

Oil platforms (above, the Spree tied to a Gulf of Mexico rig) serve as artificial reefs, attracting organisms with intriguing properties.

Medicine from the Sea

From slime to sponges, scientists are plumbing the ocean's depths for new medications to treat cancer, pain and other ailments

A number of mechanisms used by common antibiotics to deal with bacteria and ways by which bacteria become resistant to them.

Book Excerpt: Supergerm Warfare

Dragon's drool, frog's glands and shark's stomachs have all been recruited for the fight against drug-resistant bacteria

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Race for a Remedy

Retired from the track, thoroughbred First Flight served as a "factory" to produce botulism antitoxin

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The Return of the Phage

As deadly bacteria increasingly resist antibiotics, researchers try to improve a World War I era weapon

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Help is on the Way

Combine the power of nature, animal companionship and music, and you have a recipe for healing

Human embryonic stem cells in cell culture

Ailing? Just Add Cells

Now we can grow the cells from which all others derive, but ethical questions are involved

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