Stories by Heidi Ledford

Despite conflicting data, the highly anticipated results will make the treatment a standard of care in the U.S.

With politicians touting the potential benefits of malaria drugs to fight COVID-19, some people are turning away from clinical trials of other therapies

The experiment tests a gene-editing therapy for a hereditary blindness disorder

As the first clinical trial results trickle in, researchers look ahead to more sophisticated medical applications for genome editing

As lung injuries among e-cigarette users mount amid a youth vaping epidemic, the impact of new restrictions remains unclear

The startling discovery could open up avenues for treating some aggressive tumors

Survey finds that “normal” human tissues are riddled with mutations

Clinical-trial participants and their carers are gaining influence over how experiments are run. As they take to social media, that could make things messy for the science

Treatment restores immune-system function in young children with severe disorder

The president wants to cut spending at the National Institutes of Health and Environmental Protection Agency, but it is not clear whether Congress will go along

The U.S. FDA decision comes after fits and stops for RNA-interference therapies

Some researchers say statistical prediction of the ancestral blossom yielded an unlikely structure

Advances in genomics and imaging are reviving a fading discipline

Studies find that species diversity and antibiotics influence cutting-edge treatments

Technique demonstrated in E. coli suggests way to record events

The technique could be used on everything from flowers to cells to examine the factors that influence the shapes of plant parts

Errors could cause researchers to overestimate the rate of photosynthesis when water is scarce

DNA of a 234-year-old tree has few mutations, giving weight to idea that plants protect their stem cells

New understanding may help reveal some causes of miscarriage

Geneticists harness two mutations to improve on 10,000 years of tomato domestication

Desperate farmers hope scientists can beat pathogen that is wrecking the US orange harvest

DNA sequences from 100-year-old tumor samples could bolster childhood cancer research

It remains to be seen whether the treatment, which was effective in a large clinical trial, will live up to its promise

A host of detailed cell atlases could revolutionize understanding of cancer and other diseases