There is something eerily familiar about Athens, Ohio, even if you grew up in New York City. It’s the accessible beauty of Appalachia, which surrounds the town — the gentle hills, the long, flat fields, the meandering brooks and neat, smallish farms. It’s something more nefarious as well: the profound rural poverty vivid in the mini-malls and convenience stores on the outskirts of town. It’s the curse of plenty — the deal with the devil that this area made long ago with large mining corporations and fast-food chains. And it’s the number of overweight and obese people of all ages ... Read More

You don’t have to tell your heart to beat or your lungs to breathe. These actions are automatic. But more than 1 million Americans are stuck with a pancreas they have to operate manually. They have type 1 diabetes, meaning their pancreases don’t produce enough insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar. There’s no cure — only treatment in the form of regular insulin injections, which require diabetics to constantly monitor their blood sugar, or glucose, levels. Few diseases require this much attention, every day, all day. A handful of researchers in America and Europe aim to ... Read More