basic research

Scientists reel as turmoil roils National Science Foundation

2:28pm May 02, 2025

The National Science Foundation, a major government funder of basic science research, is being shaken up, with over 1,000 grants already terminated and the White House looking to halve its budget.

Queue Listen Now

Total Solar Eclipse Stretches Across North America From Mexico To Canada

Sen. Ted Cruz's list of 'woke' science includes self-driving cars and solar eclipses

7:48am February 13, 2025

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says the National Science Foundation has given money to thousands of "woke DEI" studies. Researchers say that's misrepresenting science and disparaging important research.

Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, AZ

National Science Foundation freezes payments in response to Trump's executive actions

12:50pm January 31, 2025

The National Science Foundation's funding freeze, and wider confusion about the status and future of science funding, is already hampering research.

Women, girl, group, diversity, collage, confidence, girl power, people, fashionable, human

Painful Endometriosis Could Hold Clues To Tissue Regeneration, Scientist Says

6:22pm May 13, 2021

by Terry Gross

MIT bioengineer Linda Griffith spent years in debilitating pain before she was diagnosed with a condition often neglected in research. Her focus on the basic biology could lead to better treatments.

Queue Listen Now

This image shows the buildup of toxic tau proteins in the medial temporal gyrus of a human brain. Though some drugs can now remove these proteins, that hasn't seemed to ease Alzheimer's symptoms. It's time to look more deeply into how the cells work, scie

Alzheimer's Researchers Go Back To Basics To Find The Best Way Forward

11:28am June 25, 2020

by Jon Hamilton

After a decade of failure in treating Alzheimer's with drugs, the National Institutes of Health is funding a five-year effort in Seattle to learn more about how the disease starts in the brain.

Queue Listen Now

These Flatworms Can Regrow A Body From A Fragment. How Do They Do It And Could We?

11:32am November 06, 2018

by Gabriela Quirós

Biologists are keen to understand how a type of flatworm known as a planarian uses powerful stem cells to regenerate an entire body from a headless sliver of itself.

This sequence of images shows the development of embryos formed after eggs were injected with both CRISPR, a gene-editing tool, and sperm from a donor with a genetic mutation known to cause cardiomyopathy.

Exclusive: Inside The Lab Where Scientists Are Editing DNA In Human Embryos

9:07am August 18, 2017

by Rob Stein

NPR gets exclusive access to a lab in Portland, Ore., where scientists have begun editing the DNA in human embryos to try to prevent genetic diseases.

Queue Listen Now

Conducting and describing your experiment in a way that permits others to repeat the study and get the same results is the engine of scientific progress.

Costs Of Slipshod Research Methods May Be In The Billions

3:10pm June 10, 2015

by Richard Harris

Up to half of all results from biomedical research laboratories these days can't be replicated by other science teams. Why not? Myriad flubs slow progress in the hunt for cures.

Queue Listen Now

The Allen Cell Types Database catalogs all sorts of details about each type of brain cell, including its shape and electrical activity. These cells, taken from the visual area of a mouse brain, are colored according to the patterns of electrical activity

A Database Of All Things Brainy

7:52pm June 01, 2015

by Jon Hamilton

Researchers in Seattle are busy cataloging what scientists have learned. For now that includes detailed information on 240 mouse cells. Next up: a data trove of details on human brain cells.

Queue Listen Now