Scientists have been turning to the animal world for inspiration for a long time, including for medicines. And many different types of animals have been responsible for this inspiration, including sharks, spiders, and... roadkill.

As prescription drug costs skyrocket in the US, thousands of people are forced to forgo lifesaving medications -- all while manufacturers and health care facilities systematically destroy perfectly good, surplus pills. Kiah Williams...

Daniel Kraft offers a fast-paced look at the next few years of innovations in medicine, powered by new tools, tests and apps that bring diagnostic information right to the patient's bedside.

* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences.

Could psychedelics help us heal from trauma and mental illnesses? Researcher Rick Doblin has spent the past...

Biologist Dan Gibson edits and programs DNA, just like coders program a computer. But his "code" creates life, giving scientists the power to convert digital information into biological material like proteins and vaccines. Now he's on to...

Global obesity rates are on the rise, but body shaming campaigns are doing more harm than good, says medical anthropologist Nancy N. Chen. Reflecting on how the cultural histories of body ideals have changed over time, she offers a new...

In the 1860s, scientists believed they were on the verge of uncovering the brain's biggest secret: how the brain's signals travel through the body. They believed these impulses travelled uninterrupted along a massive web of tissue. But...

Expired medicine might seem like a weird concept because a lot of it doesn’t get moldy or slimy like old food. Is it really a big concern?

Inspired by Star Trek, scientists are trying to learn more about animals' brains through virtual reality, and it turns out that a component of human milk helps protect babies from bacteria!

The cold medicine you picked up at the store involves some cool chemistry to treat your symptoms.

Genetic tests can give you advice about what lifestyle, diet, and level of exercise are best for you. But you should take those suggestions with a grain of salt, because, when it comes to our bodies, our genes aren’t so much an open...

In the US, the very same blood test can cost $19 at one clinic and $522 at another clinic just blocks away -- and nobody knows the difference until they get a bill weeks later. Journalist Jeanne Pinder says it doesn't have to be this...

In this week's news, scientists announce that they’d made the first entirely computer-generated bacterial genome, and a new surgical procedure that does away with cuts and scars.

Hank brings us the news about the new Nobel Prize winners in the sciences, what they won for and what it all means.

Under the sea, untold wonders await in the form of untapped medicinal potential. Chemist Sam Afoullouss dives into the science behind natural remedies, explaining why the ocean's great (and still largely unexplored) biodiversity is ideal...

While it’s probably most famous for its role in gene editing, CRISPR does more than just that: its ability to precisely cut and alter DNA could lead to new antibiotics, faster diagnosis tools, and more. Chapters CREATING ANTIBIOTICS 1:07...

A decade ago, uS law said human genes were patentable -- which meant patent holders had the right to stop anyone from sequencing, testing or even looking at a patented gene. Troubled by the way this law both harmed patients and created a...

Last week, the recipients of the 2017 Nobel Prizes were announced. We take a closer look at the winners of the Physiology and Chemistry Awards, whose breakthroughs change the way we study sleep, and allow us to look at microscopic...

The path that products take to get onto store shelves doesn’t always leave the best impact on the environment. But with green chemistry, chemists have found ways to make the production of some items safer for both people and the planet.

In sub-Saharan Africa, power outages, low technology penetration, slow internet and understaffed hospitals plague health care systems. To make progress on these problems in Malawi, TED Fellow Soyapi Mumba and his team created a new...

The incredible chemical weapon-making abilities of fungi, bacteria, and plants have created a diverse array of compounds that are useful to humans.

Researchers created a "super jelly" that can survive being run over with a car, and its weird properties take advantage of some novel chemistry.

The UN predicts that antimicrobial resistance will be our biggest killer by 2050. "That should really scare the hell out of all of us," says bioprocess engineer Leon Marchal. He's working on an urgently needed solution: transforming the...

* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. Paola Antonelli, design curator at New York's Museum of Modern Art, wants to spread her appreciation of design --...