Rob Stein

COVID infections, hospitalizations and emergency room visits appear to have ticked up for the first time in 2023.

NPR's Weekly Dose of Wonder explores the wonder of music in this installment.

New companies are working to commercialize in vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, a technology that could make human eggs and sperm in the lab from any cell in the body.

Companies are racing to accelerate and commercialize in-vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, which would make human eggs and sperm in the lab from any cell in the body containing anyone's DNA.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but limited access to those ages four and five.

Researchers are inching closer to creating human eggs and sperm in the lab that carry a full complement of anyone's DNA. It could revolutionize fertility treatment and raises huge ethical questions.

Researchers are inching closer to mass-producing eggs and sperm in the lab from ordinary human cells. The technique could provide new ways to treat infertility but also open a Pandora's box.

An expert panel advising the Food and Drug Administration has recommended approval of a Pfizer vaccine that would be the first to protect babies against RSV.

At least 58,000 childern younger than 5 years old are hospitalized each year with RSV infections. A Pfizer vaccine given to pregnant people could help protect their infants from severe RSV illness.

A panel of experts voted 8-6 in favor of Food and Drug Administration approval of the first gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal genetic disease.

In a unanimous vote, 17-0, a panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended that the agency approve the first over-the-counter birth control pill.

The Food and Drug Administration is weighing whether to allow a birth control pill to be sold over the counter for the first time. An advisory committee opens a two-day hearing Tuesday.

The CDC says the coming end of the public health emergency means the agency will be scaling back the data it routinely collects and releases about the pandemic.

The FDA is considering greenlighting the experimental treatment under its accelerated approvals program. Some critics point out the therapy isn't yet proven to work and may be costly.

The chances of developing lingering symptoms after COVID appears to fall sharply from the first to the second time someone gets sick, new research finds. The risk is still significant.

The Food and Drug Administration appears poised to make available the COVID-19 vaccines that target omicron as a second booster for people with weak immune systems and those ages 65 and older.

The Food and Drug Administration appears ready to authorize that some people — such as those with weak immune systems — get yet another booster with one of the newest COVID-19 vaccines.

A Mississippi woman's life has been transformed by a treatment for sickle cell disease with the gene-editing technique CRISPR. All her symptoms from a disease once thought incurable have disappeared.

The Third International Summit on Genome Editing concluded Monday with ethicists warning scientists to slow down efforts to use gene-editing to enhance the health of embryos.

Victoria Gray's life has been transformed by her treatment for sickle cell disease with the gene-editing technique called CRISPR. She's in London telling her story at a scientific summit.