Shots

In 2019, the FDA approved Spravato for patients with major depressive disorder who hadn't responded to other treatments. Now, the agency is adding patients who are having suicidal thoughts or have recently attempted to harm themselves or take their own lives. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images hide caption

Tony Potts, 69, a retiree from Ormond Beach, Fla., receives his first Moderna COVID-19 vaccine shot Tuesday as part of the company's phase three clinical trial. Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images hide caption

Potential COVID-19 vaccines are kept in a tray at Novavax labs in Maryland on March 20. The Novavax vaccine requires an immune-boosting ingredient called an adjuvant to be effective. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

The health threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic is particularly intense for people with cancer. Medication weakens the immune system. Cancer treatments are often delayed. FG Trade/Getty Images hide caption

On the left is an unmodified hatchling of a longfin inshore squid (Doryteuthis pealeii). The one on the right was injected with CRISPR-Cas9 targeting a pigmentation gene before the first cell division. It has very few pigmented cells and lighter eyes. Karen Crawford hide caption

Blood plasma — the yellowish, cell-free portion that remains after red and white blood cells have been filtered out by a machine and returned to the plasma donor — is rich with antibodies. Plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients might prove useful in preventing infection as well as in treatment, scientists say. Lindsey Wasson/Reuters hide caption

Several lines of evidence now suggest that two common vaccines against respiratory illnesses can help protect against Alzheimer's, too. How much brain protection they offer will require more intensive study to quantify, scientists say. Themba Hadebe/AP hide caption

Researchers have been investigating how long antibodies to the coronavirus last in people who have recovered from infections. Simon Dawson/Pool via AP hide caption

Biomarin Pharmaceutical, a California company that makes what could become the first gene therapy for hemophilia, says its drug's price tag might be $3 million per patient. Maciej Frolow/Getty Images hide caption

A researcher at Peking University's Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics conducts tests on May 14. Scientists are confronting their biases and learning to engage with science from places they're unfamiliar with. Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Internationally, scientists now have on file the genomes of more than 47,000 different samples of the virus that causes COVID-19 — up from just one in January. Here's a transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (orange) isolated from a patient. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health hide caption

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, scientists say. UW Medicine hide caption

Victoria Gray, who underwent a landmark treatment for sickle cell disease last year, has been at home in Forest, Miss., with her three kids, Jadasia Wash (left), Jamarius Wash (second from left) and Jaden Wash. Victoria Gray hide caption

Dr. Julie Holland, author of the new book, Good Chemistry, says that when patients taking antidepressants have stopped experiencing relief, psychedelic drugs might be used in conjunction with talk therapy to help some work through past traumas. Milos Zivkovic/EyeEm/Getty Images hide caption

Dr. Nico Dosenbach decided to put his healthy arm in a cast to figure out more about how the brain deals with an immobilized limb. Tim Parker/Washington University School of Medicine hide caption

Cows with genes from the human immune system make antibodies that may help people fight the coronavirus. Walter Portz/SAB Biotherapeutics hide caption