LAURA UNGAR

FILE - A seventh grader carries her plate which consists of three bean chili, rice, mandarins, cherry tomatoes and baked chips during her lunch break at a public school in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Experts agree that the urgency of climate change and the demands of a surging global population call for an overhaul of how humans get their protein. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

Eating less meat would be good for the Earth. Small nudges can change behavior

One of the thorniest problems of the 21st century is how to get people to eat less meat. A new poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that most U.S. adults said they eat meat at least several times a week.

FILE - This July 2019 image provided by the Sarah Cannon Research Institute shows Victoria Gray on her infusion day during a gene editing trial for sickle cell disease at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute and The Children's Hospital At TriStar Centennial in Nashville. Gray, the first patient to test the treatment, shared her experience with researchers at a scientific conference in 2023. She described suffering with terrible bouts of pain since childhood and receiving high-dose pain medications and sometimes blood transfusions. She described feeling she "was being reborn” the day she got the gene therapy. (Anthem Pictures/Sarah Cannon Research Institute via AP, File)

A new cure for sickle cell disease may be coming. Health advisers will review it next week

There soon may be a new cure for sickle cell disease that attacks the disorder at its genetic source.

FILE - This undated image made available by the National Human Genome Research Institute shows the output from a DNA sequencer. Scientists are setting out to collect genetic material from 500,000 people of African ancestry to create what they believe will be the world’s largest database of genomic information from the population. (NHGRI via AP, File)

People of African ancestry are poorly represented in genetic studies. A new effort would change that

Scientists are setting out to collect genetic material from 500,000 people of African ancestry to create the world’s largest database of genomic information from the population.

An exhibit of early human species, whose faces have been recreated, are seen inside the Smithsonian Hall of Human Origins, Thursday, July 20, 2023, at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

We carry DNA from extinct cousins like Neanderthals. Science is now revealing their genetic legacy

More research is showing that we carry genes from other kinds of ancient humans, and their DNA affects our lives today.

Busts of Neanderthal and hominins line a table at the studio of paleoartist John Gurche in Trumansburg, N.Y., Wednesday, May 31, 2023. Along with more fossils and artifacts, DNA findings are pointing us to a challenging idea: We're not so special. For most of human history we shared the planet with other kinds of early humans — and those now-extinct groups were a lot like us. (AP Photo/Heather Ainsworth)

Science paints a new picture of the ancient past, when we mixed and mated with other kinds of humans

The science of human evolution has made big leaps in recent years, and it’s painting a new picture of our origins.

Waves generated by Tropical Storm Ophelia crash up on the banks of the Potomac River along Irving Avenue in the town of Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Va., on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (Peter Cihelka/The Free Lance-Star via AP)

Weakening Ophelia still poses a risk of coastal flooding and heavy rain in some parts of the US

Nearly a day after being downgraded from a tropical storm, Ophelia is still threatening much of the Northeast with coastal flooding, life-threatening waves and heavy rain from Washington to New York City.

Katie O'Brien holds her son, Bennett, on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, in the birthing room where she delivered him in July at the Henry County Medical Center in Paris, Tenn. The maternity ward at the hospital closed in early September. "It's a horrible thing for our community," says O'Brien. "Any young person looking to move here won't want to come. Why would you want to come somewhere where you can't have a baby safely?" (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Rural hospitals are closing maternity wards. People are seeking options to give birth closer to home

Fewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery units and the number keeps dropping. It’s forcing pregnant women to travel longer distances for care or face giving birth in an emergency room.

Brynn Schulte rides on a toy unicorn at her home in Cincinnati shortly before getting medication to treat her rare genetic bleeding disorder, Aug. 3, 2023. Brynn was diagnosed thanks to whole genome testing, which was recently shown to be nearly twice as good at finding genetic disorders in sick babies as more targeted tests. Her parents and doctors credit early diagnosis with saving her life. (AP Photo/Laura Ungar)

A broad genetic test saved one newborn’s life. Research suggests it could help millions of others

A recent study showed that tests for sick newborns that look at their full genetic blueprints are nearly twice as good at finding genetic problems as narrower, more commonly used tests.

Phil Durst, who has undergone an experimental stem cell procedure with his eyes, sits for a portrait in Homewood, Ala., on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. His left eye bore the brunt of a 2017 work accident, which stole his vision, left him unable to tolerate light and triggered four to five cluster headaches a day. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Stem cells from one eye show promise in healing injuries in the other

A new study shows a promising procedure to treat severe injuries in one eye by using stem cells from the other.

Dr. Alfonso Sabater, checks Antonio Vento Carvajal's eye under a blue light after applying a stain to check to see if more ulcers had developed, before a gene therapy treatment, Thursday, July 6, 2023, at University of Miami Health System's Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami. Antonio was born with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over his body and in his eyes. He was blind for much of his life but can see again after getting gene therapy eyedrops. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Gene therapy eyedrops restored a boy’s sight. Similar treatments could help millions

Antonio Vento Carvajal has been legally blind for much of his 14 years. A gene therapy delivered through eyedrops is allowing him to see again and has opened the door to similar therapies that could potentially treat millions of people with other eye diseases.

FILE - Ansonia Lyons carries her son, Adrien Lyons, as she takes him for a diaper change in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022. After two miscarriages, Ansonia became pregnant in 2020, and it was difficult. Doctors initially told her she was suffering from regular morning sickness, though she was vomiting blood. Ultimately, she was diagnosed with an excessive vomiting disorder. A study published Monday, July 3, 2023, in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows maternal mortality rates in the U.S. doubled between 1999 and 2019, that Native American and Alaskan Native populations had the largest rate increase and that, overall, Black maternal mortality rates were the highest. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

Maternal deaths in the US more than doubled over two decades. Black mothers died at the highest rate

A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows maternal deaths across the U.S. more than doubled in two decades in unequal proportions.

This graphic provided by Yale University shows an image of a human embryo model. (Monique Pedroza, Ipek Gassaloglu, Berna Sozen/Yale University via AP)

Scientists use stem cells to create models of human embryos and study our earliest days

Scientists have created embryo models to help study the mysteries of early human development, the medical problems that happen before birth and why many pregnancies fail.

OB-GYN Dr. Kylie Cooper prepares dinner with her husband, Nick, and daughters, Cleo, left, and Hazel, Thursday, June 15, 2023, in Minnesota. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, many maternal care doctors in restrictive states face the choice of whether to stay or leave. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Why some doctors stay in US states with restrictive abortion laws and others leave

Many maternal care doctors in states that have restrictive abortion laws are facing the choice of whether to stay or leave after last year’s Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v.

Shubham Chandra, center, returning home to New York from Cancun, Mexico, takes an anonymous COVID tests for study purposes after arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. Chandra knows how dangerous the coronavirus can be: He lost his father during the pandemic. So when he cleared customs and saw people offering anonymous COVID-19 testing, he was happy to volunteer. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

As COVID surges in China, US begins testing more travelers

As COVID-19 surges in China, the U.S. is expanding its traveler surveillance program, an early warning system for detecting new variants.