Health | The Verge

Of course the ChatGPT dog cancer vaccine spawned a startup

2026-08-12T12:26:04-04:00

Remember that much-hyped story about an Australian tech entrepreneur using ChatGPT, Grok, and other AI tools to craft a personalized cancer vaccine for his dog? Well, surprise: He's launched a startup.

That entrepreneur is Paul Conyngham, who says he is launching Gamgee to offer "personalised mRNA cancer vaccines for dogs." But his ambitions go well beyond dogs - and pets - with Gamgee's website promising the company will harness AI and genetics to develop personalized treatments for a range of diseases and species, including humans.

At the center of Gamgee's origin story is Rosie, Conyngham's Staffordshire bull terrier-Shar Pei mix, who …

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Your Fitbit data can now connect directly to Apple Health

2026-08-03T17:26:58-04:00

Google is rolling out an update that will finally allow you to connect your Fitbit workouts, steps, vitals, and other data to Apple Health, as reported earlier by 9to5Mac. With Google Health's 5.05 update, you can now tap your profile icon, select "Partner apps," and choose Apple Health to link your data directly.

Previously, you could only import your Apple Health data into Google Health, but not the other way around. That meant using third-party apps - like Power Sync for Fitbit or Fitbit to Apple Health Sync - or some other kind of workaround to connect your Google Health information to Apple Health.

Google Health replaced the Fitbit ap …

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What I track in a day

2026-07-23T12:37:51-04:00

It’s a lot of stuff, generally. | Photo: Victoria Song / The Verge

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. Optimizer will be taking a two-week break and will be moving to Wednesdays starting August 12th. Opt in for Optimizer here.

My For You page thinks I love "What I eat in a day" videos. Most of the time, I watch them in a bid to suss out the latest wellness fads. But they can be an illuminating look into what people perceive to be healthy (or less-than-healthy) eating habits - even if a portion of them are likely faked for clout. In the same vein, I've gott …

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Taylor Farms pulls iceberg lettuce from the US market after cyclosporiasis outbreak

2026-07-20T05:32:02-04:00

Agriculture - Harvested Iceberg lettuce / Santa Maria, California. | Photo by: Tony Hertz /Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Food producer Taylor Farms released a statement on the Cyclospora outbreak Friday, confirming that it's "voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the US market." Reuters reports that, according to a source, Taylor Farms told customers like Yum Brands owner Taco Bell and the food distributor Sysco on Thursday to pull shredded lettuce that had been produced initially as 5-pound bags at a facility in Guanajuato, Mexico, from distribution.

Taco Bell said on Thursday that "The affected ingredient from our supplier is being indefinitely removed from our supply chain nationwide and will be replaced within 24 hours …

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The manosphere’s testosterone obsession reaches the highest levels of US military

2026-07-17T14:33:50-04:00

The Secretary of the High-T Department of War. | Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here.

I was in the middle of writing a different Optimizer column this week when I learned that Pete Hegseth is getting ready to roid out America's armed forces.

The announcement came in an X post, because of course it did. "The High-T Department of War," the post read. There was a two-minute, 30-second video underneath. As I hit play, my soul morphed into that meme of a screaming, crying cat.

"We have a sacred duty to maintain t …

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Enshittification

2026-07-17T18:16:08-04:00

Bryan, a food broker from Michigan, wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it to urgent care in time. He started feeling off on Thursday, and by Saturday, he was having to use the bathroom every 15 to 30 minutes.

"It's no joke about the explosive diarrhea," Bryan, who asked that his last name be withheld for obvious reasons, told me. I met him via Reddit, where I recently spent hours lurking in threads about cyclosporiasis, the explosive diarrhea illness infecting people across the country, and Cyclospora cayetanensis, the microscopic parasite that causes it, which spreads through human fecal contamination. Symptoms - including nausea, loss of …

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Spotify’s Daniel Ek is bringing his body-scanning clinics to the US

2026-07-15T07:31:54-04:00

Health startup Neko Health was founded by Hjalmar Nilsonne, left, and Daniel Ek, right. | Image: Neko Health

Spotify founder Daniel Ek's body-scanning startup, Neko Health, is setting its sights on the United States after raising $700 million from a star-studded group of celebrities, entrepreneurs, and investment firms. It plans to open its first clinic in New York this year before expanding rapidly across the country.

Neko operates private clinics offering full-body scans and blood tests using AI and custom-built medical equipment. Scans are designed to proactively screen customers for conditions including skin cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. The company says its goal is to catch problems early, prevent disease, and help people live longer. …

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Less is more with the Oura Ring 5

2026-07-10T18:47:33-04:00

The cross stitch pattern is by NathNolu on Etsy.

If you're reading an Oura Ring 5 review at The Verge, you likely fall into one of two camps: newcomers looking for a smartwatch alternative, or Oura users pondering an upgrade. In the case of the former, this is a great casual health tracker and the best smart ring on the market - but not your best choice if you really sweat the fitness details. If you fall into the latter, you don't need to upgrade.

I say this because the Oura Ring 4 came out less than two years ago. The ceramic version, of which I am a big fan, came out less than a year ago. These were major updates over the Oura Ring Gen 3, both in terms of software and in terms of senso …

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Empathy for the optimizers

2026-07-10T09:27:36-04:00

Bryan Johnson, best known as the man who wants to live forever, has an incurable autoimmune disease. The internet's most famous biohacker made the announcement on June 30th, sparking a barrage of takes.

If you've never heard of Johnson, the CliffsNotes are that he's made it his personal mission to never die. That's not hyperbole - there's an entire Netflix documentary about how the man spends a veritable fortune turning himsel …

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Five questions for Dr. Rubin, who’s armed with a mic and a bowtie

2026-07-06T13:17:07-04:00

Dr. Rubin’s feed

Bullshit is cheap but truth is expensive. Anyone with half a brain cell can post wild misinformation that goes mega viral, which wastes the time and expertise of highly trained people who feel an obligation to inform others of the truth. Today I want you to meet one of those highly-trained people, Dr. Zachary Rubin, who works on the front lines against scientific and medical misinformation.

Rubin is a pediatric allergist and immunologist and author of the book All About Allergies. He likely came across my TikTok feed because I crave anti-misinformation content; one of my other favorite people doing this work is Rubin's colleague Dr. Idrees …

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