Rob Stein

After many setbacks for genetic therapies, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended approval of the first gene treatment for an inherited form of blindness.

The work of Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young solved the mystery of how our bodies' inner clocks anticipate fluctuations between night and day to optimize behavior and physiology.

Authorities in Las Vegas say at least 50 people were killed when a gunman opened fire on outdoor concertgoers Sunday night. And, the three Americans won for their work on circadian rhythm.

Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young share the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries about how internal clocks govern human biology.

The nation's organ transplant network is considering changing how livers are distributed. The goal is to make the system fairer, but critics worry patients in poorer rural areas could lose out.

Researchers disabled a gene that they think helps determine which human embryos will develop normally. The technique they used is controversial because it could be used to change babies' DNA.

The process modifies patients' immune cells to attack their own cancer cells. It was approved to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children and young adults — the most common childhood cancer.

NPR gets exclusive access to a lab in Portland, Ore., where scientists have begun editing the DNA in human embryos to try to prevent genetic diseases.

In experimental embryos, scientists were able to repair the gene that causes a serious heart disorder. More research is needed to confirm the method would produce healthy babies, they say.

Data from nearly 43,000 men around the world found that sperm counts dropped by more than half in Western countries. It could reflect a decline in health overall, scientists say.

The Food and Drug Administration is proposing sweeping changes to how it regulates cigarettes and related products, including reducing the amount of nicotine allowed in tobacco cigarettes.

An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration recommends the agency, for the first time, approve a new kind of treatment that uses genetically modified immune cells to attack cancer cells.

U.S. doctors are prescribing opioid painkillers less often and at lower doses, but at rates that are three times higher than their European counterparts, the CDC says.

Cardinal George Pell has been ordered to appear in an Australian court next month to face sexual assault charges. The Trump administration on Thursday will outline how the travel ban will work.

An analysis examining mortality among millions of Americans concludes that a tiny decrease in levels of soot could save about 12,000 lives each year.

A study of whole genome sequencing found that while many people discovered genetic variations linked to rare diseases, they didn't overreact to the news.

Public education campaigns and restrictions on sales to minors have helped discourage teenagers from vaping, according to officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Food and Drug Administration says abuse of the painkiller Opana ER has fueled an outbreak of HIV, hepatitis C and a serious blood disorder, though it was reformulated to try to reduce abuse.

Fetuses in the third trimester responded more often to patterns that resembled faces than patterns that did not. The findings don't mean fetuses can recognize their parents' faces before they're born.

Research indicates a significant number of the tumors detected through mammography are small because they are prone to slow growth. The findings suggest many are unlikely to become life-threatening.