Joe Palca

Gilead Sciences, Inc., an American biopharmaceutical company, has published early results of a coronavirus drug trial on Wednesday. NPR science correspondents update on the latest coronavirus news.

One way to speed up the testing of a new vaccine is to deliberately expose volunteers to the coronavirus and see if they develop immunity. But the practice raises ethical questions among medics.

Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute Dr. Ashish Jha and an NPR science correspondent answer listener questions on the spread of the coronavirus and drugs believed to treat it.

Researchers worldwide are trying to develop a vaccine to stop the spread of the coronavirus. An NPR science correspondent takes various listener questions about a potential coronavirus vaccine.

Scott Tilley, a Canadian ham radio enthusiast, used his spare time during COVID-19 lockdown to track down a signal from LES-5, an experimental communications satellite launched in 1967.

Once a vaccine is developed, there is not going to be enough to supply the world. So who gets the vaccine, and who decides?

The group of experts, assembled under the agency run by Dr. Anthony Fauci, warns that using a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin could result in potential toxicities.

Several new types of tests for coronavirus infection are being developed. One uses the revolutionary gene-editing tool called CRISPR; another measures responses from cells in saliva.

A year to develop a COVID-19 vaccine may seem like a long time, but it typically takes longer. We examine how vaccines are developed, and how researchers are trying to speed things up.

Researchers are racing to develop quick, home-based tests for the virus that could deliver test results in minutes. None do that yet, but several under development hold promise, scientists say.

Pharmaceutical companies GSK and Sanofi are partnering to work on several vaccine candidates to fight the coronavirus.

An NPR science correspondent answers listener questions about the search for a vaccine to fight the coronavirus.

An NPR science correspondent answers listener questions about the search for medical treatments to fight the coronavirus.

A study involving 53 patients seriously ill with COVID-19 found that some of them got better. But there was no comparison group, so strong conclusions weren't possible.

Shortly after midnight eastern time on Friday, a European Space Agency mission will zoom pass Earth on its way to Mercury. Earth's gravity will give it what is called a gravity assist.

President Trump continues to promote hydroxychloroquine, a drug that has not been proved to work against coronavirus and COVID-19. He's relying on anecdotes, not science.

Dr. Jinoos Yazdany, a rheumatologist from the University of California, San Francisco, and NPR science correspondent Joe Palca answer questions about the drug hydroxychloroquine.

The best protection against the coronavirus would be a vaccine. But that's probably at least a year away, even if crash development programs succeed. What can be done in the meantime?

A drug that's been tested against the coronaviruses that cause MERS and SARS and shown to have valuable antiviral properties appears to be potent against the COVID-19 virus as well.

The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that it will take charge of a program that includes the Mayo Clinic and the American Red Cross with funds from the federal government.