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In what is being hailed by some as a historic decision, the FDA has decided to change its recommendations for blood donations from gay and bisexual men. In 1983, during the height of the AIDS crisis, the FDA

The Michelson Philanthropy Prize in Immunology was awarded on Feb. 24 to Dr. Paul Bastard at the Necker Hospital for Sick Children in Paris. Why should you care? Because his work helps us better understand the biology of why some die from COVID-19, while others are seemingly – and are – immune.

The organic craze that has overtaken the United States is so pervasive (and intentionally confusing) that it's become impossible for anyone to know what it really means. Here's how it appears to a chemist. Hold on tight.

The FDA has greatly relaxed a previous lifetime ban on blood donations from gay men who have sex with men. But even this new policy is perceived by some as needlessly precautionary.

HIV drugs have performed in ways that are nothing short of miraculous. Of the 673 HIV-negative gay men in San Francisco who participated in a study of the prophylactic efficacy of Gilead's Truvada, all 673 remained uninfected two years later, despite lower condom use by gay men. Amazing. Gilead also came up with the first cure for hepatitis C. Yet, the company is routinely demonized.

Why is asparagine, a rather boring molecule that biology majors are forced to memorize, grabbing international headlines? It can be found foods containing protein – which are many – including asparagus, the vegetable after which it was named. But some in the media say it causes cancer, which means asparagus causes cancer. (We're not kidding.)

Here's what's on tap: The how-to of COVID-19 testing ... an extremely well-informed skeptic wonders about our pandemic actions ... a possible silver lining to the massive economic fallout ... and what's behind the long lines of climbers trying to summit Mount Everest?

The Atlantic says that the new coronavirus strain is a "huge danger." However, the virus already mutated early last year to become more infectious. There's no reason to panic yet.

Anthem continues to practice medicine without a license in determining which patients should have anesthesiologists providing care during cataract surgery. 

The New Face of the New McCarthyism ACSH’s Jeff Stier got the last word in the Los Angeles Times’ report on PLoS Medicine’s recent announcement that they will no longer review studies that are funded by the tobacco industry.

This past week, Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health hosted a webinar on the putative dangers of ultra-processed foods (UPF). Let me share my recap.

It's been said that truth is the first casualty in war. It could also be said that truth is the first casualty in a decadent and declining society ... and journalists are leading the way.

There’s considerable discussion about whether COVID vaccines are responsible for the barrage of variants that keep hitting us. Is selective pressure driving this – like with bacteria and antibiotics? Let's take a look.

Can diseases be treated by modifying the genes of people with genetically-based disorders? Dr. Chris Gerry discusses CRISPR, a technology that edits the DNA in the human body. It has worked in a small number of cases. Does this mean that we have an immediate revolution in medicine on our hands? Or will it be just an esoteric experiment that will fail to live up to expectations? Maybe some of both.

The role of infectious pathogens causing secondary diseases is well established. But although suspected, the correlation of childhood infections and type 1 diabetes has not be proven. A recent Finnish study shows a strong correlation between enterovirus infection in children and the development of diabetes. Is this one more piece of the puzzle?

"Oh great, my child's going to be a mutant," says Lou Terrier as the woman explains to him why she wants to look inside his car.
--First line of a "Men's Health" article
The current issue of Men's Health magazine contains an article that, while making every effort to be scary and authoritative, actually contains no good advice about anything relevant to men's -- or anyone's -- health.

Last week Arizona Governor Doug Ducey exercised his best judgment, aiming to expand the scope of the health care workforce during the COVID-19 public health emergency. And yet health care practitioners lack the same ability, based upon their knowledge and their patients’ circumstances, to use their best judgment when treating pain.

Josh Bloom in The Wall Street Journal, "A Welcome Boost in the Race for New Antibiotics"
The members of the "I hate the pharmaceutical industry" club must be beside themselves. And the anti-big-government folks are probably not terribly happy either.

The Mississippi Baby, a baby born HIV-positive, was introduced to the world last year as cured and virus-free. However, several

The progressive spread of a highly infectious strain of avian flu virus infections to more mammal species is a concern to scientists, public health officials, and farmers. However, the publicly released genomic data do not include critical information on the outbreak’s origins and evolution.

British scientists came up with a plan to decrease the incidence of the dangerous drug resistant Clostridium difficile: Limit the use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics, such as Cipro, in hospitals. 

The genome editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9 is changing many fields in biology with its precision and simplicity. Here's what you need to know.

Niche; it can be described as a comfortable, suitable position in life, the equipoise of resources and competition. Having one’s niche, it sounds so comforting; having a special place in the world. COVID-19 may have temporarily disrupted our niche, but climate change could drastically re-alter it.

In case you haven’t noticed, the coronavirus is still with us. The First Lady has COVID-19, and cases and hospitalizations are rising. Some people where I live are wearing masks, and one of them has Long Covid. The virus is likely in our sanitary sewer systems, and we are responsible for putting it there.

Dawn Anderson, a former nurse who was dying from multiple, painful conditions, faced far worse than just death. She was dying in agony, as hospital staff refused to provide opioid pain relievers that had worked well in the past. Here is Dawn's chilling story, which is the quintessential example of the consequences of "opioid madness" and the cruelty it brings with it.