TOP TEN SCIENCE DISCOVERIES OF 2010

1.     First Synthetic life. In May this year, well known American geneticist Craig Venter claimed to have invented the first ‘synthetic life’. The researchers created a synthetic genome on a computer then assembled it and transplanted it into a recipient cell and converted that to a new species. The breakthrough has enormous implications for the development of ‘designer organisms’ that are created in a lab and can do anything from making biofuels to absorbing carbon dioxide. “A useful analogy for understanding what Venter’s team have done might be to imagine buying a clock radio from the hardware store, taking it apart, and then building a copy using parts ordered over the Internet,” said Dr Robert Sparrow from the Centre for Human Bioethics at Monash University. “It is also clear that you would have a long way to go before you could design your own radio from scratch. Taking this next step in the biological sciences will require understanding a lot more than scientists currently do about the functions and interactions of genes and the way they work in different cellular environments.” http://www.sciencemag.org/content/329/5987/52.full?sid=414a625b-ef46-4a0c-8103-3380e5d5d19a

 

2.     Asteroid dust particles brought back to earth. A Japanese space capsule which landed in Woomera, South Australia, in June has brought samples of an asteroid back to earth for the first time.  An analysis of some 1,500 particles found in the Hayabusa space capsule revealed that most of them originated from rocks on the asteroid Itokawa. The Hayabusa spacecraft was launched by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in May 2003 and landed on the asteroid in November 2005 before landing safely in the Australian outback in June. “Over the next few months to years, these particles will be further analysed to see what they have to tell us about asteroids, meteorites, and the early solar system,” said Professor Trevor Ireland from The Australian National University who was the only Australian scientist to be involved in the preliminary examination of the returned asteroid sample. “The successful demonstration by JAXA of being able to visit an asteroid and bring material home simply opens the doors to new discoveries.” http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/muses_c/index_e.html

 

3.     Bacteria expand possibilities of alien life. NASA scientists discovered bacteria that can live and grow entirely off arsenic, raising the possibility that new forms of life might exist in the universe. It was previously thought that all forms of life on earth required six basic molecules – carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur and phosphorus, but scientists have now discovered bacteria in Mono Lake in California that can use arsenic instead of phosphorous, expanding the potential building blocks of life and opening the possibility that life may exist in the universe in a host of new places. “Every time we expand the limits of life like this we expand the horizons of the search for life beyond Earth,” said Malcolm Walter Director of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at the University of New South Wales. Arsenic is often found in significant quantities on Earth at deep ocean hydrothermal vents. This discovery gives scientists another reason to study the possibility of life on moons of Saturn and Jupiter where hydrothermal vents might also exist. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2010/12/01/science.1197258.abstract?sid=1690df1e-5b9e-4426-815a-9283a3682083

 

4.     Not the end of the world – LHC has first reaction. After several delays and false starts, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider successfully created a "mini-Big Bang" in 2010 by smashing together lead ions instead of protons – and getting a first look at the conditions which existed moments after the universe began some 13.7 billion years ago. The world’s biggest and most expensive scientific experiment – the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is located in Geneva. Scientists hope that by smashing particles together at near the speed of light, the LHC will provide critical insight into origins of the universe, including the mysterious ‘dark matter’ that occupies much of space. Some people had feared the machine would instead create a mini-black hole that could tear the earth apart. http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/lhc/lhc-en.html

 

5.     First trial of embryonic stem cells. A US company has announced the enrolment of the first patient in a clinical trial of human embryonic stem cells. California’s Geron Corporation made the world-first announcement on October 11, 2010. The main objective of the trial is to assess the safety of human embryonic stem cells in patients with recent but complete spinal cord injuries. “The commencement of this trial marks the transition of human embryonic stem cells from the laboratory to the clinic. Whatever the outcome, other trials for different conditions will probably quickly follow,” said Professor Andrew Elefanty from Monash University. http://www.geron.com/media/pressview.aspx?id=1235

 

6.     First Census of Marine life completed. Representing the most comprehensive and authoritative answer yet to one of humanity’s most ancient questions – “what lives in the sea?” – Census of Marine Life is an inventory of species distribution and diversity in key global ocean areas. Scientists combined information collected over centuries with data obtained during the decade-long Census to create a roll call of species in 25 biologically representative regions – from the Antarctic through temperate and tropical seas to the Arctic. The project was led by Australian scientist Dr Ian Poiner, who believes the beauty, wonder and importance of marine life are hard to overstate. “All surface life depends on life inside and beneath the oceans. Sea life provides half of our oxygen and a lot of our food and regulates climate. We are all citizens of the sea,” Dr Poiner said. “And while much remains unknown, including at least 750,000 undiscovered species and their roles, we are better acquainted now with our fellow travelers and their vast habitat on this globe,” he said. http://www.ploscollections.org/static/comlCollections.action

 

7.     Neanderthal genome sequenced. An international research team has sequenced the Neanderthal genome, using pill-sized samples of bone powder from three Neanderthal bones found in a cave in Croatia. The researchers compared the Neanderthal genome with the genomes of five present-day humans from different parts of the world as well as to chimpanzee DNA. This comparison showed that Neanderthal DNA is 99.7 percent identical to present-day human DNA, and 98.8 percent identical to chimpanzee DNA. The results reveal a variety of genes that are unique to humans, including a handful that spread rapidly among our species after humans and Neanderthals split from a common ancestor. The researchers also found that two percent of the genomes of present-day humans living from Europe to Asia – and as far into the Pacific Ocean as Papua New Guinea – was inherited from Neanderthals – suggesting there was some interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/328/5979/710

 

8.     New superbug emerges. A new strain of multi drug-resistant bacteria known as New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM1) was discovered in 2010, again raising the question of whether superbugs are on the rise both in Australia and across the globe. The new strain prompted The World Health Organisation to issue an alert urging broad action from governments on the issues of antibiotic resistance, including increased surveillance, hospital infection control and the rational use of antibiotics. “This New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase is a threat because it is so resistant to so many antibiotics,” said Professor Peter Collignon from the Australian National University. “It is a worry because it’s such a difficult to treat bug.” http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(10)70143-2/abstract

 

9.     Building an artificial lung. American researchers have constructed an artificial rat lung. The scientists implanted engineered lung tissue into rats which then worked like the real thing, helping the animals breathe and supplying their blood with fresh oxygen. The method might eventually be used to generate transplantable lungs for humans with lung disease. The researchers removed all the cells from donor rat lungs leaving behind a ‘scaffold’ on which to build the new organs. What was left of the lungs was then seeded with different types of lung cells. The organs were then grown and developed before being transplanted into rats where they exchanged oxygen and carbon dioxide similarly to natural lungs. Fifty million people worldwide have end-stage lung disease. A lung transplant could help many of these patients, but organ shortage is often a limiting factor. http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v16/n8/full/nm.2193.html

 

10.  Quantum computer edges closer. Australian researchers developed one of the key building blocks needed to make a quantum computer using silicon. Quantum computers will use the spin, or magnetic orientation, of individual electrons for their calculations. In order to employ electron spin, a quantum computer needs both a way of changing the spin state (writing information) and of measuring that change (reading information). Together these two form a quantum bit or qubit – the equivalent of the bit in a conventional computer. The researchers have developed a device capable of reading the spin of an electron in silicon – fulfilling the ‘reader’ component of a quantum computer. The new device relies on the same silicon base used in our current computers rather than light or the esoteric materials and approaches being pursued by other researchers. This opens the way to constructing a simpler quantum computer, scalable and amenable to mass-production. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7316/full/nature09392.html