When people are sick, we seek out medications and treatments to help heal. For a long time, scientists thought that was a uniquely human ability. But it turns out, many other animals do a version of it too! And since the late 1980s, western researchers have been trying to get a peek behind the curtain. And aside from just cataloguing all the cool examples just to know, there’s a real hope that studying animals’ medical cabinets may be the most promising way to expand our own. We get into the weeds with freelance science journalist <a href="https://www.mandynguyen.com/"target="_blank" >Mandy Nguyen</a>. Interested in more animal stories? Email us your ideas and questions to explore at <a href="mailto:shortwave@npr.org"target="_blank" >shortwave@npr.org</a>. They may become a future episode! Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at <a href="http://plus.npr.org"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org</a>.  See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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How scientists discovered that animals are doctors, too

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