Fish consider the ocean their own personal toilet. Well, researchers found out that's not such a bad thing!

Swallowing pills to get medication is a quick, painless and often not entirely effective way of treating disease. A potentially better way? Lasers. In this passionate talk, TED Fellow Patience Mthunzi explains her idea to use lasers to...

Unlike with many other viruses, once you get a herpesvirus you’re stuck with it for life. But just how do these master trespassers accomplish this feat?

Unlike measles, Influenza requires a fresh shot of vaccines every year. But why?

The world is getting closer to achieving one of the most important public health goals of our time: eradicating HIV. And to do this, we won't even have to cure the disease. We simply have to stop HIV from being transmitted until...

A sad reality that we have to face when studying outbreak science is that sometimes groups of people use outbreaks intentionally to inflict harm on another group. We call this "weaponizing an outbreak", and it's the focus of this...

Discover the science of how viruses can jump from one species to another and the deadly epidemics that can result from these pathogens. -- At a Maryland country fair in 2017, farmers reported feverish hogs with inflamed eyes and...

Cell membranes are structures of contradictions. These oily films are hundreds of times thinner than a strand of spider silk, yet strong enough to protect the delicate contents of life: the cell's watery cytoplasm, genetic material,...

In the African grasslands, a gazelle suffering from tuberculosis takes its last breath. The animal's corpse threatens to infect the water, but for the vulture, this isn't a problem: it's a feast. With a stomach of steel that can digest...

Scientists have discovered viruses that infect viruses... virusception, if you will. Does this mean viruses qualify as life yet? Or are they still hanging out in the misfits drawer with sporks and Pluto?

Paul Andersen explains how viruses reproduce using the lytic cycle. He also shows how viruses can pick up new genetic material and how retroviruses (like HIV) can enter into the lytic cycle. He also describes the lysogenic cycle and...

Also known as cercarial dermatitis, swimmer’s itch is more than just an annoying rash…

In this video Paul Andersen explains how immune individuals in a population give the entire group a herd immunity. Concepts of immunity, vaccines, basic reproduction number, and herd immunity threshold are discussed.

Each year, we try to fight flu season with the influenza vaccine and this year is no different. But why is there a flu season at all and how do we fight it?

If you have had a UTI before, maybe you've tried some cranberry juice or cranberry pills to ease the symptoms. Your mom suggested it, or even your doctor prescribed it, so it should work, right? But do you really know why cranberries are...

In the second video of our two-part series on HIV and AIDS, we look at the challenges that have kept scientists from developing a cure, and the treatments that have still managed to improve the outlook for those infected. Chapters View...

Paul Andersen describes the important characteristics of viruses. He starts with a brief description of origin theories. He then describes the two characteristics of all viruses; genetic information and protein coats. He also...

Your hands, up close, are anything but smooth. With peaks and valleys, folds and rifts, there are plenty of hiding places for a virus to stick. If you then touch your face, the virus can infect you. But there are two extraordinarily...

Do you suffer from canker sores? These little white balls of blinding pain can be annoying, but there is hope.

Plants can get sick, but since they don’t walk around sneezing on each other, the things that infect them need some very weird strategies to spread.

Consider a bat that is infected with several deadly viruses, including ones that cause rabies, SARS, and Ebola. While this diagnosis would be lethal for other mammals, the winged wonder is totally unfazed, and may even spend the next 30...

Last week, we ventured into the world of bedbugs. Rather than frighten you off, this only seemed to when your appetite for episodes on creepy, crawly parasites. You want us to cover lice. I bet some of you are already itching your heads....

Howcast - Learn how the symptoms of the STD chlamydia differ in men and women from sexpert Jane Bogart in this Howcast video.

Howcast - Learn about the HPV vaccine, which helps protect against the human papillomavirus, from sexpert Jane Bogart in this Howcast video.