eugenics eyes

How to Understand the Resurgence of Eugenics

The extreme right wing has brought the discredited idea of eugenics back into the national conversation. Brave New World and Gattaca offer perspective.
Robot doctor

Will Robots Replace Human Doctors?

What do advances in AI, VR, and robotics mean for doctors? In the case of medicine, perhaps it's better to ask what technology can't do.
babies healthcare

The First Health Insurance Policies Helped Reduce Infant Mortality

Some early healthcare history shows the effect of insurance plans: lower infant morality and better standards across the board.
DNA genetic analysis results

A New Kind of DNA Evidence

Should familial DNA be used in forensic investigations? How it works -- and some of the potential problems with the practice.
big pharma

How Did Big Pharma Get Big?

One branch of the healthcare industry that receives particular opprobrium for its high costs in America compared to other countries is pharmaceuticals.
Lister spraying phenol over the wound while the doctors perform an operation.

Joseph Lister’s Antiseptic Revolution

Joseph Lister's landmark articles on antiseptic surgery in the Lancet were published 150 years ago. The revolution was not immediate.
Indian Cobra

Venom’s Healing Touch

Venom kills thousands every year, but research is showing that venom can heal as well. Venom works in a way that most drugs can only dream of.
friends socializing at table

The Secret Ingredient For Better Self-Care

One form of preventative medicine that is important, and which health policy barely considers: social connections between people.
A woman looking out of a window

Why Does Menopause Exist?

What is the point of menopause? Evolutionarily speaking, why do female humans go through menopause and then live for many more decades?
Rosalie Slaughter Morton and Anne Morgan, an American philanthropist, in 1918

The Forgotten Women Physicians of World War I

For women physicians, WWI was an opportunity for service that highlighted their deeply ambiguous position, as Ellen More explained in a 1989 paper.