Explore Stanford Medicine
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Weather predicts incidence of snakebites
Rattlesnake bites, contrary to public opinion, increase after periods of high rainfall, not drought, according to a Stanford-led study that examined 20 years of snakebite history in California.
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Safer gene therapy?
A new study gives Stanford researchers hope that they may have solved a big problem plaguing gene therapy: the prospect of an autoimmune attack.
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Same mutations fuel cancer metastases
The true driver mutations of cancer are almost always common to all metastases in an individual, according to a Stanford scientist and other researchers.
Precision Health
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Diversity across Stanford Medicine
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A Legacy of Innovation
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First synthesis of biologically active DNA in test tube
Nobel laureate Arthur Kornberg creates a strand of biologically active DNA, paving the way for studies of genetics.
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First adult human heart transplant in the United States
Norman Shumway successfully transplants a heart into 54-year-old steelworker Mike Kasperak, who survives for 14 days.
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First expression of a foreign gene implanted in bacteria by recombinant DNA methods
Geneticist Stanely Cohen transfers a foreign gene into bacterial cells, which then express the gene.
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First successful human combined heart/lung transplant in the world (fourth attempted worldwide)
Mary Gohlke receives the world's first combined heart and lung transplant in a landmark operation led by surgeon Bruce Reitz.
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Isolation of a gene coding for part of the T-cell receptor, a key to the immune system’s function
Immunologist Mark Davis characterizes the T-cell receptor, believed to regulate the body's response to infectious agents and cancerous diseases.
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Isolation of pure hematopoietic stem cells from mice
Pathologist Irving Weissman isolates a rare mouse cell, known as the hematopoetic stem cell, which gives rise to all the cells of the blood and immune systems.
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First use of gene expression profiling to predict cancer outcomes
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Application and expansion of optogenetics, a technique to control brain cell activity with light
Bioengineer Karl Deisseroth and his team develop a technique known as optogenetics that allows them to genetically alter brain cell activity in mice with light.