Stem Cells Reveal New Secrets About Mental Illness
Dina Fine Maron, health & science editor at Scientific American, discusses the breakthrough that could help doctors diagnose mental illnesses. Stem cells have enabled researchers to see how lithium affects the brain.
Researchers are converting patients skin cells into brain cells through genetic instruction. This allows them to look at the brain cells of a person with bipolar disorder and better understand how to treat it.
Maron explains this breakthrough will allow doctors to customize a patient's treatment plan, instead of giving them the same treatment given to everyone. Maron says the hope is one day researchers will be able to expose a patient's cells to a particular drug and see how they react before prescribing the drug to an actual patient.
Heavy rainfall flooded parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with two communities declaring a state of emergency as water poured into homes, creating moats around their foundations and leading to boat rescues of residents. Concern about a dam listed in poor condition led to more evacuations.
The leading decongestant used by millions of Americans looking for relief from a stuffy nose is no better than a dummy pill, according to government experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned drug ingredient.
Hurricane Lee, still a Category 3 storm with winds of 115 mph, is expected to increase in size but be significantly weaker in the coming days, as it turns north to reach the U.S. East Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The U.S. approved updated COVID-19 vaccines Monday, hoping to rev up protection against the latest coronavirus strains and blunt any surge this fall and winter.
An earthquake has sown destruction and devastation in Morocco, where death and injury counts continue to rise as rescue crews dig out people both alive and dead in villages that were reduced to rubble.
Hurricane Lee whipped up waves of more than 15 feet (5 meters) on Monday as the Category 3 storm cranked through open waters just north of the Caribbean region.
