If you've received a vaccine that's 95% effective, that does not mean you have a 5% chance of getting sick. That’s just not how the numbers are calculated. So let’s take a closer look at how it does work, why we can’t compare these...

Multiple companies and organizations have announced early results about their COVID-19 vaccines. Here's what we know about Pfizer's.

In 2013, an Ebola outbreak began in Guinea. The country had no formal response system and the outbreak became the largest Ebola epidemic in recorded history. Guinea then completely overhauled their response system, and were able to...

Since the 1970s, researchers have engineered superbugs. While this research could help us prepare for future outbreaks, the stakes of this work are extremely high: if even one dangerous virus escaped a lab, it could cause a global...

Current treatments for depression and PTSD only suppress symptoms, if they work at all. What if we could prevent these diseases from developing altogether? Neuroscientist and TED Fellow Rebecca Brachman shares the story of her team's...

Modern medicine has made great strides when it comes to treating and preventing some of the worst diseases in history. But getting that medicine from labs to remote regions presents some interesting engineering challenges.

When a new pathogen emerges, our bodies and healthcare systems are left vulnerable. And when this pathogen causes the outbreak of a pandemic, there’s an urgent need for a vaccine to create widespread immunity with minimal loss of life....

Fewer children in the United States are getting vaccinated. That's bad news for those kids, and also for public health in general. Often, the response is to argue and debate and get angry at people who are we see as making terrible,...

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...

This week on SciShow News, we explore how our genes change with the seasons! Plus, it turns out that even flies get scared sometimes.

Be spreaders of facts and truths, says scientist and immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci. Having advised seven US presidents on various disease outbreaks including COVID-19, he shares insights on the present and future of pandemics, backed up...

While herpes viruses cause harmful or annoying afflictions like chickenpox and cold sores, there’s also evidence it can help your immune system fight unrelated attackers.

Floods, droughts, heat waves and cold blasts -- why is the weather becoming more extreme? Environmentalist and "America's weatherman" Al Roker discusses the link between climate change and disruptions to weather patterns worldwide,...

Two of the vaccines we have for COVID-19 have the distinction of being the first mRNA vaccines to see widespread use in humans. But how do they work, and how are they different from the litany of immunizations you probably got as a kid?

What if you were holding life-saving medicine ... but had no way to administer it? Zoom down to the nano level with engineer Kathryn A. Whitehead as she gives a breakdown of the little fatty balls (called lipid nanoparticles) perfectly...

The way we cool things down is heating the planet even more, says sustainable development expert Rachel Kyte -- and the solutions go well beyond just fixing air-conditioning. She identifies four major areas with transformative solutions...

By studying population-level epidemiological trends, researchers have noticed that an old vaccine for tuberculosis may provide some protection against COVID-19.

Vaccines teach your immune system to recognize pathogens, but sometimes your body needs a bit of a reminder.

The malaria vaccine was invented more than a century ago -- yet each year, hundreds of thousands of people still die from the disease. How can we improve this vital vaccine? In this informative talk, immunologist and TED Fellow Faith...

A vaccination to protect against allergic asthma may be in sight, as scientists this week publish promising results in mice. Also, the California Condor is making a comeback, and its genome is looking great!

As Covid-19 vaccines make it into more and more people's arms, you may be hearing that the second dose can be a little rough. But, while it may be unpleasant, these intense side-effects are actually a sign that the vaccines are working....

In April 2020, epidemiologist-in-training Sophie Rose volunteered to be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. As a young, healthy adult, she's offering to take part in a human challenge trial, a study where participants are...

The secret behind medicine that uses messenger RNA (or mRNA) is that it "teaches" our bodies how to fight diseases on our own, leading to groundbreaking treatments for COVID-19 and, potentially one day, cancer, the flu and other ailments...

The FDA recently approved two mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, but it was a challenge to make this type of vaccine work. And it took decades of research to get us to the point where scientists could make those vaccines as quickly as they did.