1th quarter 2006

Science's top ten in 2005

At the end of each year, Science magazine, one of the most important and renowned scientific journals, compiles a list of the ten key scientific advances, discoveries, inventions and innovations achieved during the past twelve months. The following breakthroughs in biosciences have made it among the 2005 top ten:

Number one: Evolution in action

In 1859, Darwin described the connection between differences among individuals and natural selection. Under the same environmental conditions, certain individuals will procreate more successfully than others, depending on how well they are adapted to their surroundings. Several advances in genomics achieved in 2005 provided impressive confirmation of this rule:

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  By deciphering the chimpanzee genome, scientists were able to pinpoint the genetic differences between man and chimp. Unsurprisingly, the advantageous modifications found in humans mostly relate to genes active in the brain.
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  In the HapMap project, researchers elucidated the genetic differences between Africans, Asians and Europeans, and found renewed evidence that Africa is the cradle of mankind.
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  The influenza virus which killed 20-50m people in 1918 was genetically reconstructed. Originally a bird virus, it was able to infect humans after a few mutations.

These advances are anything but ivory-tower research. In fact, they are breaking new ground in medicine. While humans suffer from AIDS, hepatitis, malaria and coronary heart disease, chimps are resistant to these illnesses. The reasons lie in the genes. Knowing the genetic causes of human susceptibility to certain diseases should help us identify new ways of prevention and treatment. Similarly, the findings on the 1918 pandemic flu virus have opened up new opportunities in the battle against influenza.

Science's choice of evolution as the top scientific breakthrough of 2005 also has political implications, as certain groups in the USA are trying to ban evolution from being taught in schools.

Third on Science's list of breakthroughs: Genes that regulate flowering in plants

Fifth place: Genes that regulate human thinking and behaviour

Mutation of the DISC1 gene has been identified as a factor in causing schizophrenia. Defects in the SLITRK1 gene cause Tourette's syndrome (involuntary movements or actions, such as blinking, grimacing, throat-clearing, grunting, body-twisting, blurting out inappropriate — often obscene — words or phrases). Three different genes have been found to play a role in dyslexia (reading disorder). They all have in common that they cause "miswiring" between nerve cells.

Seventh place: Structure of a potassium channel

This breakthrough will give scientists a better understanding of how electric voltage is detected in nerve and muscle tissue, and might further research on diseases like epilepsy and cardiac arrhythmias.

Ninth place: Systems biology

Traditionally, scientists have been trying to minimise complexity in bioscience experiments because it is uncontrollable. The downside is that issues are explored under laboratory rather than real-life conditions. Systems biology has now found ways of modelling biological system variables at much larger scale. For example, researchers created a networked model of 8,000 chemical signals involved in programmed cell death.

By the way, climate change research finished 8th on the list.