Dec 11, 2025
3 min read
Today's health news includes the year of reproductive health for reproductive researchers, growth in the treatment of muscular dystrophy, and more.
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Good morning.Scroll down below for the sixth episode of American Science, Shattered, brought to you by yours truly.Thanks for reading, and don't forget to check out past stories if you haven't already.It's almost the end of the year, but there's a lot of great news ahead.
"This is where a healthy diet dies."
It was Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who spoke in and about the airport during a press conference yesterday when he announced a new initiative to "make travel family-friendly again."Airports will receive $1 billion in grants to improve the experience for families, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy explained, with Kennedy at his side.The options are "pretty wide open" for airports, Duffy said, citing children's playgrounds, exercise areas and additional nursing units as possible projects that could win grants.
There are no plans to reduce the cost of food at the airport, Duffy said in response to a reporter, but the goal is to offer healthier options.At the end of the press conference, the two federal leaders did push-ups in a bar located to the right of the podium.
Gene therapy improves neuromuscular disease
Children and adolescents with olfactory bulbar atrophy had greater mobility after receiving one dose of replacement therapy versus another dose of replacement therapy.
Researchers interviewed 126 children and adolescents in the study.The 75 who received the active treatment had significantly more motor performance as compared to those who received the control.Side effects of the drug were comparable between groups.
The findings indicate that gene therapy can be an alternative for children and teenagers with genetic neuromuscular disorders who currently receive chronic injections.This is the latest example of a gene therapy development that is changing the clinical landscape of spinal muscular atrophy, which causes muscles to weaken as they age and affects 10,000 to 25,000 children and adults in the United States.Rose Broderick.
Is it time to replace your revolving door lock?
The number of people who work between the FDA and the drug industry has long been counted, but the Secretary of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
So maybe it's time to revise the rules designed to lower the nustry. That's why the argument by two lawyers who travel by lawyers is made in the first new article. They believe that "a few simple changes," such as increasing the "cooling off period" of senior officials, can deal with conflicts of interest in the FDA. Read more about how they think the system should be changed.
Preschool researchers are older
Last summer was tough for 30-year-old Tyler Harvey.They are Queer M.d.-ph.d.Students at Yale, where they were attracted to a prominent position of research focused on LGBTQ) mental health.But after Harvey's PH.D.Penny's funding advisor lost because of the Framebacks Federation, he was no longer able to control their work.And while the students of this class were invited to study, the summer was spent for a new advisor and a new field of study.
"Sometimes I'm like - should I give up the PhD program?"Harvey said.They didn't, but they ignored the high school exam while playing their professional roles.
Amid federal grant cuts and attacks on the very existence of gender diversity, trans and queer scholars find themselves juggling concerns about finding secure employment in academia alongside fears for their safety and well-being.For the sixth issue of American Science, Shattered, I spoke with some early-career researchers like Harvey about how they're coping.Read more about dissertation pivots, job search delays, tortuous travel routes and widespread fear of surveillance.
Which women end up in hospital: a survey
In a study of more than 190,600 births over four years in a South Carolina city, researchers found that blacks in urban areas had a higher risk of actual readmission than their white peers.In rural areas, the overall risk of postpartum readmission was higher, but racial differences narrowed.
The study, published yesterday at JAMA Network Open, analyzed readmissions for pregnant parents within a year of giving birth.Of all those who gave birth, 4.7% were readmitted in that time frame for any reason, while 1.5% were readmitted for a mental health disorder and 0.8% were readmitted for a substance use disorder.An editorial also reports that the data is particularly dark.could lower rates for people, as Allpeer argues that the database it uses can consistently exclude people without health insurance and that many Black patients have had negative experiences avoiding or accessing care less frequently.The authors write that further research with an intersectional lens is needed.
The people who shaped science this year
Yesterday, Nature released its list of the 10 most influential people of the year in Science.Statistics readers will be familiar with two names:
CDC director fires Susan Monarez: Monarez was fired less than a month after being sworn in to lead the CDC this summer.
- Baby KJ: KJ Muldoon was born with an ultra rare disease.But at 6 months old, he received a custom gene-editing treatment to rewrite his unique genetic error.Stat Jason Mast wrote earlier this year about the landmark treatment and what it means for the future of CRISPR.And he keeps in touch with KJ's family and doctors, who all joined us in Boston this fall for the Stat Summit.There, KJ's father's story about a recent Sunday afternoon with his son left dry eyes in the room.
Also included was Precious Matsoso, who led the World Health Organization negotiating committee that adopted a pandemic treaty aimed at improving access to vaccines. (The United States did not send a representative.) Sarah Tabrizi, a neuroscientist who studies Huntington's disease, was also honored. Other unfamiliar faces included a mosquito breeder and a deep-sea diver.
What we read
HHS has changed the name of its transgender health care chief in its public, NPR
Teens' health changes as schools reopen, study finds, New York Times
– First Opinion: Why comparing the US vaccination plan to that of European countries is a silly joke, STAT
- Why are so many Americans worried about birth rates?19
- First: New Drug Agency
