a hand in blue glove with microchip on the red background

How personalized medicine is transforming your health care

Stunning advances in gene research and data mining will predict diseases and devise treatments tailored to each of us.

patient organs in miniature

On this chip, researchers Clive Svendsen and Samuel Sances at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, California, micro-engineered spinal cord tissue from a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Motor neurons (white) and a blood vessel (red), derived from the ALS patient’s stem cells, form functioning tissue, as revealed in this enlarged image (background).
Photograph by CRAIG CUTLER (HAND WITH CHIP); SAMUEL SANCES, CEDARS-SINAI (BACKGROUND)
This story appears in the January 2019 issue of National Geographic magazine.
This content is Subscriber-Exclusive
You must have a National Geographic subscription to explore this article.

Read This Next

Did this mysterious human relative bury its dead?
This new birth control for cats doesn't require surgery
How the Zoot Suit Riots changed America

Go Further

Subscriber Exclusive Content

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet