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...

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...

Sunday is Mole Day! And researchers are working on a more delicious way to treat malaria.

Slime can be great, but when it's the wrong kind of slime (you know, the kind that can kill you?), it gets added to the list of things Hank wishes he didn't have to worry about. Scientists call it biofilm, and it's a type of bacterial...

Hank describes how our brains respond biochemically to various addictive substances and behaviors and where those responses have come from, evolutionarily speaking.

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

The path to better medicine is paved with accidental yet revolutionary discoveries. In this well-told tale of how science happens, neuroscientist Rebecca Brachman shares news of a serendipitous breakthrough treatment that may prevent...

We've harnessed electricity, sequenced the human genome, and eradicated smallpox. But after billions of dollars in research, we haven't found a solution for a disease that affects more than 14 million people and their families at any...

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.

How do sugar pills really interact with our bodies?

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...

In 1928, scientist Alexander Fleming returned to his lab and found something unexpected: a colony of mold growing on a Petri dish he’d forgotten to place in his incubator. And around this colony of mold was a zone completely and...

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...

More than a century after first emerging into the fogbound, gaslit streets of Victorian London, Sherlock Holmes is universally recognizable. And yet many of his most recognizable features don't appear in Arthur Conan Doyle's original...

In the United States, the median price for an orphan drug is about $100,000 per year, twenty times the price of the median non-orphan drug. Given the staggering cost, you'd think we'd have a solid handle on whether that money is...

Trump's White House commission on opioid abuse recently released recommendations on dealing with the opioid epidemic. The report was notably short on ideas for preventing opioid abuse in the first place. That is not because there are no...

The History of Opioids - We will give a historical overview of people and opioids. We will look at when people first started using opioids, how they've changed over the years, and ways that they've been both amazingly positive as really...

The drug approval process in the United States is complicated. There are many stakeholders and varying agendas when bringing a drug to market, and profit motives often are as big a factor as helping patients. The loopholes and shortcuts...

We really need good treatments for Alzheimer's. But Biogen's very expensive and maybe not that effective drug Aduhelm is not the treatment we're looking for. Today we look at the saga of Adulhelm's approval and it's road to acceptance...

If you've had coronavirus, are you immune or can you catch it again? What's this I hear about Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome? And does hydroxychloroquine work or not? Aaron talks you through the studies and facts about some of the...

Uganda is at a turning point in its fight against malaria. In Kampala’s Mulago hospital, a staggering percentage of admissions are due to malaria and it is the highest cause of death amongst patients. The parasite is becoming resistant...

Despite its amorous nickname, the vinchuca, or “kissing bug,” actually gives its sleeping victims a malevolent bite—sucking blood and transmitting a microscopic parasite called Tripanisoma cruzi. The microbe, in turn, produces Chagas...