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Top breakthroughs of 2005
Stem cells, climate change, and landing on an alien world. These were the highlights of an eventful year for scientists.
Human chromosome in a mouse
Genetics continues to be the biggest story in science and, with the creation of the world’s first mouse with a full human chromosome, Elizabeth Fisher at the Institute of Neurology and Victor Tybulewicz at the National Institute for Medical Research in London heralded a new era in the field. The new mouse model will allow scientists to study which genes on chromosome 21 govern the different symptoms of Down’s syndrome.
Deep Impact and Hayabusa
The first time humans have managed to hit asteroids. It happens with ease in Hollywood films but doing it is tricky in real life. A round of applause, then, for astronomers who did it twice this year.
In July, the Americans guided the Deep Impact probe on to a collision course with Tempel 1. The resulting crater gave scientists their first look inside a speeding comet. Last month, Japan’s Hayabusa probe became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
Simulation of the universe
Requiring 25 million megabytes of memory, the Millennium Simulation (a collaboration between British, German, US and Canadian astrophysicists) is the biggest exercise of its kind — to simulate the birth and evolution of the universe.
By programming in the known starting conditions, so far the simulation has managed to track the 14bn-year history of creation in just a few months and offers a way to study why the universe is arranged in the way it is now.
Nasa’s problems
It has been another difficult year for Nasa, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. The success of the shuttle’s return to space has been tempered by problems with the International Space Station, which saw most of its science budget slashed to help Nasa pay for President George Bush’s desire to send astronauts to the moon and Mars. But Nasa also unveiled its replacement for the space shuttle: a crew exploration vehicle at the centrepiece of a plan to get Nasa back to the moon by 2020.
1918 flu strain recreated in the lab
In October, we learned that one of the most successful killers ever had been resurrected. US scientists recreated the Spanish flu strain responsible for the global pandemic of 1918, which killed around 50 million people. Researchers showed the strain was a pure bird flu strain that had adapted to humans. This suggests, worryingly, that a few choice mutations could turn the current bird flu epidemic into a global human pandemic.
Huygens probe lands on Saturn’s moon
Crème brûlée is not a phrase scientists often use when describing their results. But this year it became the simile of choice for conjuring an impression of Saturn’s moon Titan.
The successful “splatdown” of the Huygens probe after its seven-year and nearly 2bn-mile journey gave us breathtaking views of Titan’s eerily Earth-like landscape. The culinary analogy was meant to describe Titan’s mud- soft, but with a crusty topping.
Human embryo cloned
Scientists in Newcastle became the first British team to clone a human embryo. Recent doubts about the work of the South Korean stem cell researcher Woo-suk Hwang suggest the British achievement may in fact have been a world first. Using 36 surplus eggs from women undergoing fertility treatment, the Newcastle team created 10 very early stage embryos. The hope is that cloned embryos could be used to extract stem cell lines tailored to individual patients.
Climate reaches tipping point
Scientists in Southampton uncovered first evidence that the offshoot of the Gulf stream which gives Britain its balmy climate is slowing down; sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is now 80 per cent of what it was when Nasa first took pictures from satellites in 1978; the permafrost beneath Siberian peatlands appears to have reached a “tipping point” which could release billions of tonnes of methane; and it seems 2005 might just pip 1998 as the hottest year on record.
Singing mice and red shirts
Tim Holy and Zhongsheng Guo at Washington University School of Medicine in Missouri discovered that mice construct complex songs and sing them when they come across sex pheromones. British scientists found that, all else being equal, putting on a red shirt means you are more likely to win a football game. — Dawn/The Guardian News Service
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