Environmental hazards sicken or kill millions of people — soot or smog in the air, for example, or pollutants in drinking water. But the most dangerous stuff happens where the food is made —... Read more
There has been a fall of just over 20% in the number of deaths from malaria worldwide in the past decade, the World Health Organization says. A new report said that one-third of the 108 coun... Read more
The entire DNA sequence of a woman who lived to 115 has been pieced together by scientists. The woman, who was the oldest in the world at the time of her death, had the mind of someone decad... Read more
Obesity has a greater impact on the blood pressure of teenage girls than on teenage boys, a US study has suggested. High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke in later... Read more
Two of the holy grails of medicine – stem cell technology and precision gene therapy – have been united for the first time in humans, say scientists. It means patients with a gen... Read more
Scientists have mapped out the entire genetic map of the Black Death, a 14th century bubonic plague that killed 50 million Europeans in one of the most devastating epidemics in history. The... Read more
The cause of a rare and severe form of hypoglycaemia – or very low levels of sugar in the blood – is genetic, say researchers. The life-threatening condition means the body does... Read more
Though viruses are the most abundant life form on Earth, our knowledge of the viral universe is limited to a tiny fraction of the viruses that likely exist. In a paper published in the onlin... Read more
A form of cloning has been used to create personalised embryonic stem cells in humans, say researchers. Genetic material was taken from an adult skin cell and transferred into a human egg. T... Read more
Soil stuck on leeks and potatoes may have been the source of an E. coli outbreak in the UK earlier this year, according to the Health Protection Agency (HPA). There were 250 cases scattered... Read more
