Health and medicine

• Francis Collins named as NIH chief

  Obama nominates prominent geneticist as agency director.

  9 July 2009

• A pill for longer life?

  A drug slows the march of time in middle-aged mice.

  8 July 2009

• US AIDS chief lays out priorities - Premium content

  Focus to shift from US priorities to those of countries receiving aid.

  8 July 2009

• Human genetics: One gene, twenty years

  When the cystic fibrosis gene was found in 1989, therapy seemed around the corner. Two decades on, biologists still have a long way to go, finds Helen Pearson.

  8 July 2009

• Sperm-like cells made from human embryonic stem cells

  But results are only preliminary, researchers caution.

  7 July 2009

• Flu jabs urged for developing countries

  Move should spur demand for vaccines and keep production facilities running.

  7 July 2009

• US stem-cell research expands

  Biomedical agency announces new funding policy for cell lines.

  7 July 2009

• A knockout vaccine for rabies?

  Single injection cures infected mice — and it can protect those who haven't yet caught the disease.

  6 July 2009

• IN BRIEF: African institutions gain support networks - Premium content

  1 July 2009

• How to fix a broken heart? - Premium content

  Clues about how human hearts form hint at routes to cell-based therapies.

  1 July 2009