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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.

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.

Chemistry is hard enough to understand. But this already-convoluted field of science can be even worse because of some stuff that defies logic. Here are five examples.

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?

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.

The lead-laden water crisis in Flint, Michigan has been a slow-motion failure of government and public health oversight at multiple levels. Do demonstrate this, here's a timeline, along with commentary, on how it happened. Why it happened is another story entirely.

After months of speculation, the results of the first placebo-controlled trial of remdesivir are out. The drug does help people with COVID-19 disease, but it's nothing to get excited about. Here's why.

We want our diagnostic tests to accurately identify patients, and not falsely identify one as positive or negative for a condition. But there is no test available with that kind of accuracy.

It may be the height of the flu season but diagnosing flu remains a challenge for physicians. 

Two decades ago Africa seemed like a lost cause. AIDS was unrelentingly decimating the continent and there was little cause for optimism. But life could not be more different now. Thanks to the discovery and distribution of new, powerful drugs, the tide is turning, with Kenya predicted to be AIDS-free by 2030. It's a medical miracle. 

News organizations have recently been down on Paxlovid, while it has become the standard of care. Some claim Pfizer's Covid drug "has lost its luster" because of "failures" in two clinical trials. Now, a third trial looks like it could deliver another black mark: the drug doesn't improve symptoms in low-risk patients with Covid. Is this criticism valid? Let's look a little deeper.

The anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense is mis-using preliminary research to fuel doubt about the efficacy of COVID-19 shots. Let's break down one of its latest attempts to distort the facts.

“… the financial relationship between these newly independent physicians and industry begin to develop in the first year after graduation from their training programs and continued to expand in the early years of independent physician practice.” Financial relationship? A new study suggests that “gifting” physicians begins early. Still, I believe the study casts more shade than light.

It seems that COVID-19 is, finally and hopefully, waning from the American scene. Before we face another wave or a new threat, it might make sense to review some of the legal fallout, notably the interplay between freedom of religion, the obligation of the state to protect public health, and the prevalence of changing attitudes championing solidarity versus those advocating autonomy.

Editors at the journal Nature Medicine recently asked researchers and public health experts from around the world to identify clinical trials that will shape medicine in 2023.  They came up with a varied list of candidates, from cervical and prostate cancer screening protocols to gene therapy for muscular dystrophy and new drugs for Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.  The selections are arbitrary and idiosyncratic, but they are interesting, nevertheless. 

A new study paints a counter-intuitive picture of COVID-19’s viral load. Or does it?

New research reveals that fibrin, a key component of blood clots, may be the secret culprit behind the devastating neurological and inflammatory aftermath of the virus, including long COVID. From dense, stubborn clots to brain fog, the interaction of COVID’s spike protein with fibrin could be the missing link — and a potential target for life-saving therapies.

COVID-19 may remain in our communities for the foreseeable future, and we are told to live with as yet to be defined “new normal.” By and large, this pandemic has been fought on an individual level, one case, mask, and vaccination at a time. Alternatively, environmental risk analysis involves three levels of specificity: community, local, and individual, comprising a “3-legged stool”. Understanding the first two legs is required to benefit the third.

A British study suggests that there may be an infectious component to Alzheimer's. Examining brains of people who died from Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, which is caused by mysterious infectious proteins called prions, revealed a striking resemblance to the brains of Alzheimer's patients. This is intriguing, but speculative.

As the coronavirus continues to terrorize the world, people are pinning their hopes on companies that are doing vaccine and drug research to -- maybe -- get us out of this mess. Yet, many of the companies doing the work, especially Gilead Science, are "the bad guys." Except when we need them. Gilead's drug, remdesivir, is now in clinical trials in China so they're OK for now. Hypocrisy at its finest.

We have made amazing progress in the treatment of COVID-19. Two therapies – steroids and remdesivir – have already been shown to help. Those who benefit from these treatments owe thanks to patients who volunteered to participate in controlled clinical trials, and the physicians and pharmaceutical companies that lead them.

Given the abundance of readily available, free, effective (albeit imperfect) vaccines for many months, why are we seeing a surge in COVID cases and hospitalizations? Let's examine the three primary factors that dictate the severity of an outbreak of a viral illness.

Recent coverage in the Washington Post illustrates how the media (and even some in the scientific community) have exaggerated the risk COVID-19 poses to the elderly and downplayed the efficacy of vaccination in this age group.

The value of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19 patients continues to rise from the ashes of refutation in the medical literature. The latest iteration is a meta-analysis of utilizing the drug early in ambulatory patients' care to lessen the undesirable outcomes of infection, hospitalization, and death. Several of our readers and members of our Board of Scientific Advisors believe that this study is important and that we disregard it at our risk. We are letting a proponent of each side make their case.