Blood

Stem cells and artificial substitutes could ease the dependence on blood donations.

Technological advances are creating an explosion in possibilities for the blood-based diagnosis of brain injuries, infections and cancers.

When threats emerge to the blood supply, public-health officials must make difficult decisions to reduce the risk of infections being transmitted by transfusions.

The ability to give donated blood to patients has saved countless lives. But the routine nature of such transfusions is being rethought.

Bloodstain pattern analysis is used by forensic scientists to help reconstruct violent crimes. Efforts are underway to root the often subjective practice in science.

Alzheimer's disease and ageing brains could benefit from therapies based on blood's liquid component.

Clinical trials may soon test whether gene editing can cure a group of debilitating haemoglobin disorders.