Article

Smallpox Vanquished

Once one of the world’s deadliest diseases, smallpox’s complete eradication was the result of a worldwide deployment of a vaccine begun 50 years ago. To date it’s still the only human disease ever to disappear from Earth. Considered one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century, alongside the likes of getting a man on the moon, and one of the greatest medical feats in all of human history, smallpox was officially declared eradicated from the planet in 1980. The big push for its...

Checking Our Gut Microorganisms’ Disease-Fighting Might

New gene sequencing tech is helping researchers harness the bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in our bodies to fight disease. At this very moment, trillions of bacteria and other germs are swimming in your gut and crawling on your skin. While the thought may make you cringe, these microscopic squatters — collectively known as the human microbiome — are essential to our survival. And now a growing body of research shows how this microbiome could point the way to new treatments and a deeper...

foundations-science

Bodily Functions Explained: The Cough

It’s an everyday occurrence. A little tickle in your throat, a wayward speck of pollen, perhaps — or a bit of water traveling down the wrong pipe — and then a full-on chain reaction in your body.  Your torso lurches forward with force as your esophagus slams shut then opens wide again. In between, your lungs compress in a short burst and abdominal and rib muscles contract to push the equivalent of most of a two-liter bottle’s worth of air out of your windpipe in a fraction of a second. A cough...

The Long And Short Of Aging

The length of our telomeres, the caps on the ends of chromosomes, can predict how well we’re aging. If you’ve been sticking to your New Year’s resolutions to exercise more, eat healthier, and better manage stress, turns out that more than your waistline and well-being are benefitting. You may also be helping maintain your telomeres, the parts of chromosomes that affect aging. Watching Telomeres Telomeres are protective caps on the ends of chromosomes, often likened to the tips on the ends of...

foundations-science

What a Porcupine Quill Can Teach Us About Making Better Needles

Taking a design cue from the animal world, mimicking a porcupine quill might help make a more effective—and less painful—needle. A porcupine’s quill barbs may be microscopic, but they have mighty staying power. Ask any curious dog who’s run afoul of a porcupine. Some researchers are hoping to translate that natural ability into improved needles. In particular, a team of researchers at Harvard looked at the North American porcupine, which has about 30,000 quills covering their back as a defense...

foundations-science

Hungry, Hungry Macrophages (video)

Macrophages, the human immune system’s horde of cells that clear the body’s detritus by eating it, may be induced to gorge — in the name of helping combat Alzheimer’s and other diseases. Macrophages have an appetite for destruction. (Their name means “big eater” in Greek.) As the immune system’s primary phagocyte — or cell that has the astounding ability to engulf and digest another particle — macrophages are, among other things, the human body’s primary cleanup system. They exist in every...

The Long, Meticulous, and Sometimes Perilous Journey of an International Vaccine

People wait for vaccinations at a health center in Lome, Togo. (S. Caillet/BSIP/Science Photo Library) About half the world’s vaccines go to sub-Saharan Africa. Time and temperature can make getting them there safely tricky. Refrigerators and preservatives aren’t just for food. Medicines need to stay at safe temperatures, too. This can be especially tricky when about half the world’s people who need vaccines live in sub-Saharan Africa, where the daytime temperature most often hovers around...

Immunity’s Double-Edged Sword

Human’s complex immune system is the vanquisher of pathogens, but it can also turn on itself. In a stroke of “evolutionary brilliance,” according to Pfizer immunologist Aaron Winkler, humans and other higher organisms developed specialized immune systems that protect us from the vast diversity of pathogens found in nature, from flu viruses to pinworms. Through random genetic variation, our bodies constantly generate millions of new white blood cells, the foot soldiers of the immune system, each...

Female Pioneers: The Doctor Who Saved Countless Babies

Nearly every newborn gets an assessment thanks to a physician named Virginia Apgar, who saw the need for better infant healthcare. It’s the first standardized test you ever took. While you probably don’t remember your score, infant survival worldwide has improved thanks to the Apgar test, a simple assessment of a newborn’s health taken at one and five minutes after birth. Invented in 1952, the test is still used today in hospitals worldwide. Most know APGAR as an acronym for the health...

Diagnosing Disease by Voice

Detecting the occurrence of many diseases can be challenging without a blood test or other reliable screening tool. So researchers are now listening for the sounds of disease. Speech is a complex process that requires coordination with our brain, muscles, and respiratory system. Recent research shows that subtle changes in speech, for example slurring or vocal cord tremors, may be early signs of disease or illness like Parkinson’s disease, depression, cardiac problems, and concussion. People...

Purpose & Ideals

Supporting Breast Cancer Care Globally Through Pfizer Foundation

As with many diseases, the burden of cancer falls most heavily on poor, marginalized and rural communities due to their unequal access to screening and treatment. For women living in low and middle income countries, breast and cervical cancers are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality . It is important to address the significant barriers to quality healthcare that women living in rural or underserved communities may face.   The private sector can complement the substantial work...

Flashback: Spanish Flu Mask

(Topical Press Agency/Stringer) At the close of WWI, an estimated 50 million people died from the Spanish flu. Masks were the uninfected’s main line of defense. Patient zero of the Spanish flu may have been a soldier in WWI, who accidentally carried his virus back into the densely packed military encampment in Fort Riley, Kansas. From there, the infected would have marched across the battlefields of Europe and beyond, carrying the disease with them. In the end, Spanish flu infected a full...