Antibiotics: behind the scenes, they enable much of modern medicine. We use them to cure infectious diseases, and to safely facilitate everything from surgery to chemotherapy to organ transplants. But we’ve stopped discovering new ones...

Which of the following is risky behavior: a person taking cholesterol medicine with grapefruit juice? Or a person taking Acetaminophen before going out for drinks? Or a person on blood thinners who takes an aspirin? Turns out, all of...

Engineers are problem solvers, and our own health is full of problems to be engineered. In this episode we discuss drug discovery and drug delivery. We’ll explore everything from classical and reverse pharmacology to the new field of...

In 2008, something incredible happened: a man was cured of HIV. In over 70 million HIV cases, this was a first, and, so far, a last, and we don't yet understand exactly how he was cured. But if we can cure people of various diseases,...

Learn how scientists are fighting cancer... with algae!

You've heard about them, but do you how they work? Or why they suck? Hank explains the science behind performance enhancers, including steroids, blood doping, and that stuff supposedly made out of deer antlers. You'll never look at...

Forget lab rats — meet the Chinese or striped-back hamster, an unassuming little rodent whose role in research over the years has led to breakthroughs in genetics, pharmaceutics and more!

Ever wonder why we still haven't cured cancer? Join SciShow as we discuss what's wrong with that question and why it's so hard to find a cure.

We’ve told you before that there really isn’t any evidence that animals consume mind-altering substances because they feel good to them. This makes it appear that the fondness for psychoactive drugs is, pretty...human. What is it about...

How do sugar pills really interact with our bodies?

When stress got to be too much for TED Fellow Sangu Delle, he had to confront his own deep prejudice: that men shouldn't take care of their mental health. In a personal talk, Delle shares how he learned to handle anxiety in a society...

Forget your Hans Grubers, Lord Voldemorts, and Hannibal Lecters. It's time to meet some real supervillains. They're called retroviruses, and they actually change their host cell's DNA.

Some common life-saving medicines, such as insulin, are made of proteins so large and fragile that they need to be injected instead of ingested as pills. But a new generation of medicine -- made from smaller, more durable proteins known...

Like every rose has its thorn, the fangblenny is an adorable fish with sharp fangs and potent venom. But scientists think we might be able to use their venom as a painkiller! Meanwhile, a killer bacterium could be a promising new...

In 1884, an unlucky patient who had a rapidly growing cancer in his neck came down with an unrelated bacterial skin infection. As he recovered from the infection, the cancer surprisingly began to recede. The infection had stimulated the...

You've seen it on your shampoo bottle, vitamins, and even your fancy moisturizing cream. But what does the phrase "clinically proven' actually mean?

In 1970, marijuana was classified as a schedule 1 drug in the United States: the strictest designation possible, meaning it was completely illegal and had no recognized medical uses. Today, marijuana's therapeutic benefits are widely...

Homer's "Odyssey" recounts the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus during his journey home from the Trojan War. Though some parts may be based on real events, the encounters with monsters, giants and magicians are considered to be...

Who names drugs? Why all the funny names? A number of months ago, we did an episode on how a drug comes to market with the help of out HCT intern, pharmD student Rachel Hoffman. She also helped us out with our episode on Flibanserin.

Aaron is part of a weekly gaming group. Most of the time it's role playing games, although board games come into play as well. Most of the participants are doctors. We have a group text that we officially use to schedule, but...

All drugs have to follow the same path to approval at the US Food and Drug Administration, except when they don't. Today, with the support of NIHCM, we're learning about the exceptions to the rules that can happen when drugs get...

How much does weed affect your driving? Why is it on the news so much? This is Healthcare triage News.

Can we keep drug prices low without hurting innovation? Well, drugs are a lot cheaper in Europe than in the US, and there's still plenty of innovation over there. So what's going on? It's called reference pricing, and it's pretty much...

We've done the US, Canada, and France. None of them are really socialized healthcare systems. To get at that, we need to go look at a system like that of the UK. More specifically, we're going to talk about England's National Health...