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05.16.25

I’ve spent the past two years investigating xenotransplantation: the practice of using animal organs for human transplant. It may sound like science fiction, but it is a real potential solution to the organ shortage problem facing the country. I’ll tell you more about it below, but first, the other headlines of the week ... 

— Sanjay

After NIH staffing cuts, cancer patient in clinical trial worries she may lose crucial time

With the future of her cancer treatment in limbo, Natalie Phelps doesn’t know how much longer she can wait.

Last month, after months of seeking treatment options for her colorectal cancer, the 43-year-old mother of two was accepted into an ongoing study at the National Institutes of Health. She thought the research would allow her to receive an experimental immunotherapy — but she now faces an excruciating wait and an equally excruciating choice.

First, Natalie's tumor must grow to at least 1 centimeter in size in order to receive treatment, she said. But even after she meets that criteria, an abrupt reduction in the NIH workforce means her treatment will take much longer to develop than initially expected. She’s worried that that extra time may make a huge difference in her health.

US drug overdose deaths saw an unprecedented drop in 2024, but federal cuts could threaten momentum

Drug overdose deaths in the United States made an unprecedented drop to the lowest they’ve been in five years, according to a new government estimate.

There were an estimated 80,391 overdose deaths in 2024, according to provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — a 27% drop in one year, with about 30,000 fewer deaths than in 2023.

Experts say that it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what is driving the promising trend, but it’s probably the result of a wide range of persistent efforts starting to make an impact — and those efforts must continue to avoid rolling back on the progress that’s been made.

Although much of the work to address the drug overdose epidemic happens at the local level, support from the federal government is critical to success, experts say. Mixed messaging from the Trump administration raises concerns about the potential for the promising trend to continue.

FDA approves first cervical cancer screening device that can be used at home

To get screened for cervical cancer, patients in the United States may no longer need to put their feet in those awkward stirrups, brace for the uncomfortable speculum or even take the time off from work for an in-person doctor’s appointment.

Soon, they will have the option to collect their own vaginal samples for screening from home — instead of a health care provider doing it for them.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first at-home self-collection device for cervical cancer screening in the United States, called the Teal Wand. The device will require a prescription, and self-collected samples are then mailed to a lab to be tested for HPV.

Gene editing helped a desperately ill baby thrive. Scientists say it could someday treat millions

A baby born with a rare and dangerous genetic disease is growing and thriving after getting an experimental gene editing treatment made just for him.

Researchers described the case in a new study, saying he’s among the first to be successfully treated with a custom therapy that seeks to fix a tiny but critical error in his genetic code that kills half of affected infants. Though it may be a while before similar personalized treatments are available for others, doctors hope the technology can someday help the millions left behind even as genetic medicine has advanced because their conditions are so rare.

“This is the first step towards the use of gene editing therapies to treat a wide variety of rare genetic disorders for which there are currently no definitive medical treatments,” said Dr. Kiran Musunuru, a University of Pennsylvania gene editing expert who co-authored the new study.

Falling asleep to your favorite show doesn't have to ruin your sleep, experts say.

But wait, there's more!

• After push to remove artificial coloring, FDA approves 3 natural food dyes
• EPA announces rollback for some Biden-era limits on so-called forever chemicals in drinking water
• 'Social prescribing': You can’t find it in a pharmacy, but it might be just the treatment you need
• Does alcohol affect sleep? CNN reporter downed a martini and slept in a sleep lab to find out
• Working long hours? It could be altering the structure of your brain

Chasing Life

From Dr. Sanjay Gupta — 

At any given moment, more than 100,000 people in the United States are waiting for an organ transplant — most of them in need of a kidney. But the reality is that relatively few will actually receive an organ. Every day, 17 people on that list die while waiting.

For the past two years, I’ve spoken with surgeons, genetic engineers and patients who have told me about the goal of using genetically engineered pigs as donors to help end the organ shortage crisis.

In many ways, the idea of using pigs is not all that far-fetched. After all, we have been using pig heart valves to replace humans' valves since the 1970s. Because of their similarity in size to humans, a pig’s organs are a pretty good match for ours. And our long history of breeding them and their ability to produce large litters in just under four months makes them a reliable, steady and speedy source of potential organs.

But it was the more recent development of CRISPR and genetic engineering that has truly accelerated the field of xenotransplantation because scientists can now modify a pig’s DNA so that its organs are more compatible for human transplant, controlling for rejection, growth and possible viruses.

Just a handful of patients have undergone the experimental procedure, and each of them is adding to our understanding of this potential solution.

One of them is 66-year-old Tim Andrews, who had been on dialysis for two years before he received a gene-edited pig kidney. He had end-stage kidney disease, and the likelihood that he could find a human donor match was extremely low in part because of his rare blood type. Doctors put the chances of him finding a match within the next five years at just 9%, but the likelihood of him dropping off the list altogether in that same period because of illness or death was nearly 50%.

Even though he knew there was tremendous uncertainty about the outcome of the transplant, Tim pushed forward. He told me, “It may shorten your life, but you're going to do something for humanity. And I'm like, oh, God, that's what it's all about.”

That kind of altruism is a stunning show of humanity. As much as the scientists behind all of this are heroes, the even bigger heroes are the patients, like Tim, who are helping move the science forward.

What actually happens in the brain during pregnancy? Cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Laura Pritschet joins Sanjay to unpack the hormonal shifts and brain changes that support new parenthood and how understanding them could reshape the way we think about women’s health.

CNN Health's The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows up in your

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