Explore
Search results
We often take biology for granted, rarely recognizing the incredible technological feats of an organism as it grows, heals, and self-assembles—sustainably. As our ability to read, write, and design DNA grows, this power of biology is enabling amazing new biotechnologies to impact numerous industries, from everyday products brewed by designed microbes to programmable materi...
The discussion of “designer babies” often revolves around gender or hair color, but the medical debate is far more complicated. Should we screen embryos for disease or other genetic modifications? These considerations raise ethical questions and call into question the validity of surrounding research. The lack of regulation and oversight make this particular biotechnology...
Luckily for us, a truly sustainable world already exists. Life on Earth had been in perfect balance for 3.8 billion years, and the secrets to that sustainability are still all around us. Biomimicry is the emulation of nature’s genius in design, engineering, even business. Today, biomimics are learning to repel bacteria like a shark, gather fog like a desert beetle, and cir...
Patient-centered care is defined by the National Academy of Medicine as “providing care that respects and responds to individual patient preferences, needs and values, and ensures that patient values guide all clinical decisions.” Designed to place patients at the heart of the system, the approach is built around well-coordinated, quality care, including physical comfort a...
A noted author on animal behavior joins a corvid cognition expert to delight us with new discoveries about the remarkable brains of birds. Marvel at their ability to solve multi-step problems by planning ahead like a skilled chess player, exercise astonishing feats of memory, create works of art, and not only make and use tools but pass those designs on to future generatio...
New research designs that use biomarkers, genetic testing, digital health devices, and artificial intelligence can modernize clinical trials so cutting-edge therapy can reach those who need it much more quickly. Rigor, speed, safety, and public trust are equal imperatives in the drive to overhaul the current system, which has been plagued by inefficiency, lack of participa...
When the University of Texas completes its new medical school campus, it will introduce an entirely different approach to the study of medicine. Self-directed projects, collaborative work spaces, and design thinking will replace memorization and lecture halls, and help to claim a leadership role for academic medicine in addressing the systemic issues that influence health....
Patients, and the networks of people who support them, already play a powerful role in sharpening our understanding of disease, but much more can be done to center their experiences in the design of biomedical research. With encouragement from the scientific, medical, consumer, and philanthropic communities, patients facing a broad range of medical challenges can grow thei...
Jennifer Doudna and her Berkeley lab collaborators are not alone in their quest to understand nature. As scientists with profound curiosity, leaders of labs across the globe have found themselves in an intense race to determine how to manipulate our genetic makeup, designing new technologies that can alter the course of disease or even design a human child. But with the de...
Once associated mostly with IV poles and standard-issue hospital gowns, health-related design has entered a new era with creative and functional products that observe, inform, soothe, and connect. A stuffed animal named Chemo Duck helps children with cancer express their emotions; new digital health records give nurses in Rwanda the tools to provide quality care and improv...
The #MeToo movement has inspired a sister movement called #USToo, designed to expose and eliminate sexual harassment in the sciences. A sweeping new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine looks at the extent to which women in these fields are harassed on campuses, research labs, medical centers and other academic environments. The chillin...
More than 140,000 people from more than 140 countries have told researchers just what they think and feel about science and key health challenges, such as vaccinations. Wellcome is releasing the findings for the first time at Aspen Ideas: Health. The largest such survey to date cuts across language, culture, and literacy levels to reveal how much people trust science, whet...
Medical errors in hospitals rank as the third leading cause of death in the United States, exceeded only by cancer and heart attacks, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. At least 200,000 preventable deaths occur annually in these institutions of healing, although some researchers say the true number may be double that. Hospital-acquired infections, diagno...
Many clinicians have first-hand knowledge of what happens when their patients are unable to obtain the medications they need, at an affordable price. Widespread drug shortages and skyrocketing prices have created a crisis that could be costing lives in the US. With Intermountain Healthcare in the lead, joined by Ascension Healthcare, SSM Health, and Trinity Health, one gro...
The belief that the paralyzed will walk and the deaf will hear is a staple of religion, literature, and myth. Now, technology is actually making that happen. Zeen has designed a battery-free mobility device to combine the best functions of a walker and wheelchair. Wristbands created by Neosensory feed sound vibrations directly from the skin to the brain, improving the abil...
We’ve gone way beyond fitness trackers to collect information about our bodies’ physiological processes. Wearables are being designed to detect early signs of Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory diseases, identify signals of insulin resistance, and warn of blood pressure changes that could signal pregnancy complications. Some devices don’t even have to be attached to th...
The ability to endure is the essential trait in every extreme athletic endeavor. Hundred-mile races, Himalayan Mountain expeditions, and cross-continental treks all require humans to push harder and achieve more than we ever thought possible. How important is the delicate interplay between mind and body in the struggle to keep pushing despite an agonizing will to stop? Wha...
Although essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of new drugs and devices, clinical trials tend to be costly and slow to reach conclusions, and there is often an imbalance in the race, gender, and age of participants. Efforts to reinvigorate the research ecosystem aim to broaden access to trials, increase their diversity, and make it more efficient to capture pro...