Stories by Sara Reardon

There is evidence the new variant could be more transmissible, yet vaccines work very well against it

In the U.S., health workers come first. But for other groups, scientists and policy makers are weighing a mix of disease risks, logistics and ethics

There have been mixed results as researchers try to stop a disease they are still trying to understand

Journals and Nobelists, usually cautious, cite unprecedented damage and incompetence in calls for a U.S. leadership change

Crops sense and respond to drought, pests and other stressors in surprising ways, researchers are discovering

Making changes to the molecular messengers that create proteins might offer flexible therapies for cancer, pain or high cholesterol, in addition to genetic disorders

Deep-learning algorithms are peering into MRIs and x-rays with unmatched vision, but who is to blame when they make a mistake?

Researchers around the country are scrambling to understand these outbreaks, but lack solid data on case numbers

A massive study of half a million people finds no single gene behind sexual orientation, adding more evidence that there is no “gay gene”

Swabbing infants with mothers’ vaginal bacteria could affect the children’s health, but critics warn of sparse data and high risk

Advisory panel says US National Institutes of Health should treat sexual harassment more seriously and do more to help affected researchers

Policy also requires ethics review for any grant applications to the National Institutes of Health that involve fetal tissue

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

Sophisticated algorithms could help DNA-synthesis companies avoid making dangerous organisms on demand

A second wave of closures looms as the government funding fight barrels towards a record-breaking fourth week

Johnson & Johnson has submitted its esketamine for regulatory approval, but researchers still don't understand how the fast-acting antidepressant lifts moods

Scientists scramble to analyze data from the eruption of Kilauea, hoping to predict similar events elsewhere

How digital drug dealers and virtual users are providing clues to help stop the U.S. opioid epidemic

The death penalty, uranium mining and the endangered dusky gopher frog are among the topics that justices will consider this year

Its health system lacks the capacity to respond to attacks that use high-powered modern weapons

Analysis finds prenatal exposure to the pesticide is associated with a higher risk of severe autism with intellectual impairment

Nomination of Kelvin Droegemeier could end long drought at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

In 5-4 ruling, Supreme Court allows government to bar visitors and immigrants from seven nations

An investigation by the U.S. National Institutes of Health finds missteps that put the industry-funded project’s credibility in doubt