With just $399 and a bit of saliva in a cup, consumers can learn about their genetic risk for diseases. Now, thanks to social networking sites, they can also share that information with family, friends and even strangers on the Internet. This sounds relatively harmless, but according to Stanford bioethicists, sharing genetic information online raises a host of ethical questions.

Tagged: ethics, genetics, Human Health, Medicine

Once symptoms start, there's only a tiny window of time for stroke victims to get life-saving treatment. Now, research from the Stanford University School of Medicine has cracked that window open a bit wider.

Tagged: stroke, Human Health, Medicine

Stanford professor Marion Buckwalter is intent on discovering how the brain repairs itself after stroke—the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States

Tagged: stroke, Human Health, Medicine

Human immune cells communicate constantly with one another as they coordinate to fight off infection and other threats. Now Stanford researchers have shown that muffling a key voice in this conversational patter is an early step in the progression of human cancers.

Tagged: cancer, Human Health, Medicine

A new survey from the School of Medicine suggests that a significant number of Asian Americans living in California adopt unhealthy sun-exposure behaviors as they become more westernized.

Tagged: cancer, Human Health, Medicine

Stanford scientists have found evidence that some coral reefs are adapting to higher ocean temperatures and may actually survive global warming.

Tagged: Environmental Research, Environment & Sustainability, Earth Sciences, Humanities & Sciences, Medicine

HIV-positive patients who don't seek medical attention until they have a serious AIDS-related condition can reduce their risk of death or other complications by half if they get antiretroviral treatment early on.  The study results could lead to widespread changes in treatment for HIV patients, particularly those diagnosed at an advanced stage.

Tagged: aids, Human Health, Medicine

Even cells aren’t immune to peer pressure. Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have now shown that skin cells can be coaxed to behave like muscle cells — and muscle cells like skin cells — solely by altering who they hang out with: the relative levels of the ingredients inside the cell.

Tagged: Human Health, Medicine

While drugs are typically designed on a "one-size-fits all" basis, Stanford researchers are using advances in DNA sequencing technologies to make possible a personalized approach to medication.

Tagged: Human Health, Medicine

Finding could lead to new treatments, better understanding of other autoimmune diseases

Tagged: Human Health, Medicine