Billions of people rely on rice as a staple crop. Now here’s another reason to grow it: scientists have figured out a way to use the grain to produce a key component of human blood.
Global Health
How Funky Foot Odor Could Help Save Lives
Fifteen years ago a Dutch scientist stood in a room, naked, and let himself be swarmed by mosquitoes. The idea was to see which part of the body the bugs were most attracted to. Turns out, it’s the feet — the stinkier the better.
U.N. Update: Barriers to Women’s Access to Justice and Health Care Persist
As it does each year in advance of the G8 meeting, the United Nations released an update on Tuesday on its progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), a series of initiatives set forth in 2000 to improve conditions …
Why the London Vaccine Summit Is a Triumph for Global Health
When the media writes about vaccines in the U.S. and Europe, usually we’re reporting on the endless controversy over whether some vaccines cause autism. (Short answer: they don’t.) That’s the luxury of wealth and health — …
Where Have All the Women Gone? Why Sex Selection Persists
Greater and greater numbers of boys are being born for every girl. In her new book, Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men, Beijing-based journalist Mara Hvistendahl investigates …
Female ‘Empowerment’ Is Great — Except When it Comes to Smoking
What does “empowerment” mean for women around the globe? More smoking deaths, for one. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) reports that in countries where more women work in government office, have equal voting rights …
The Link Between an H1N1 Vaccine and Narcolepsy
Vaccines have been associated with any number of bizarre side effects — but putting people to sleep? That’s a new one.
A New Project to Track Animal Diseases Before They Infect Humans
Back at the start of 2009, I thought I was sure where the next influenza pandemic would come from: Asia. I’d spent a few years in the region following the steady progression of the H5N1 avian flu virus as it spread from wild and …
Healthland Guide: Fast Facts About Malaria
Actor George Clooney announced on Jan. 20 that he had recently beaten his second bout of malaria, which he had contracted during a diplomatic trip to Sudan. His publicist told the Washington Post that he says his experience shows …
It’s World Toilet Day: Celebrate with Squats
In America, we tend to think of squats as exercises, but for the 2.5 billion people worldwide who have no access to toilets, they’re practiced for an entirely different reason. About half the world’s population has no access to …
