Medical

Although there have already been birds that received strap-on artificial legs, scientists are now reporting the first successful integration of a prosthetic foot directly into a stork's residual leg bone. They're describing the animal as the world's first "bionic bird."

Nobody likes gulping down a big pill, to the point that some people may not bother taking their medication because it's just too hard to swallow. A new system from MIT could help in that regard, by packing the same drug dose into a smaller pill.

Getting traditionally administered drugs into the brain can be challenging, due to the body's protective blood-brain barrier. There may be new hope, however, in the form of a patch that gets shoved up the patient's nose.

Through a new study on rodents, scientists have made first-of-a-kind observations of the brain mistakenly recalling a memory, which they believe lays the groundwork for understanding the mechanisms at play in conditions like Alzheimer's disease.

Bacteria have a nasty ability to rapidly evolve, allowing them to evade antibiotics in short order. But now, scientists at UC San Diego have used evolution against them, by “training” bacteria-killing viruses to anticipate their next moves.

A first-of-its-kind study has explored the connections between repeated concussions and an insidious degenerative brain condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and shown how a new drug may be able to prevent it from taking hold.

A study is reporting a blood-based biomarker can detect the presence of 13 neurodegenerative disorders, from dementia to motor neuron disease, and determine whether those with depression are suffering from the early stages of neurodegenerative disease.

Researchers have uncovered interesting new details around the function of fat cells, finding that increasing levels of a certain protein could offer protection against diabetes in at-risk individuals, by altering the behavior of white fat cells.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed an electronic nose that may be able to sniff out signs of cancer from blood plasma samples. In tests, the device was able to detect a range of cancer types with over 90 percent accuracy.

Researchers have found a way to maintain insulin levels in diabetic mice by growing and implanting new beta cells that produce the hormone. These cells are housed inside a tiny device that protects them from the immune system, like a shark cage.

Bacteria are extremely good at evolving in response to drugs, which can render vaccines ineffective. But now, researchers at ETH Zurich have found a way to weaponize that ability against them, forcing the bugs down harmless evolutionary dead ends.

Leveraging a newfound ability to identify the "fittest" metastatic cancer cells, scientists at the UK's University of Salford have discovered that an already approved drug can be deployed to cut off their fuel supply, while leaving normal healthy cells unharmed.