When a little girl in Iowa was diagnosed with a rare incurable disease, her parents and their community came together to help her. They wound up making medical history.
research
Posted inEditor's Pick
Toadstools and Toxins
“When I found the mushroom Amanita muscaria being sold in candy wrappers, I uncovered legal loopholes, dangerous dosages and more.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: Bad medicine, imperfect sound forever, know when to fold ’em, brainiacs, and a call of the wild.
Posted inEditor's Pick
AI Is Dead. Organoids Are Alive
“Mini human brains are being grown in labs all over the world. Soon, they could outthink neural networks.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Fatal Reaction
“A cutting-edge gene-editing trial in China went disastrously wrong. A family wants accountability.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Reality Check
“AI-generated images have left us questioning what is real. But the godfather of digital forensics, Hany Farid, is not giving up.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Creating Baby Geniuses to Thwart the AI Threat? (Yes, Really.)
“The new wave of Silicon Valley–backed gene-editing startups is straight out of ‘Brave New World.'”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The California Novel No One Can Find
“Collectors have been tracking an 1854 outlaw tale from gold rush San Francisco to the alleys of Mexico City—and beyond. We join the hunt.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Beneath the Long White Cloud
“The search for the eighth wonder of the world.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Weather-Changing Conspiracy Theory That Will Never End
“Why are some people convinced that nefarious experiments are happening in the distant Alaskan wilderness?”