Every year, reporters and editors at Science choose
nine runners up and one breakthrough of the year--
they look for the most significant scientific discoveries,
developments and trends.
But before we get to the breakthrough,
here are the runners up
In a detector beneath the South Pole, a ghostly particle
called a neutrino left a telltale track
researchers traced it back to its likely source:
a bright galaxy called a blazar, far away.
The finding suggests blazars may also be the source of
mysterious ultra–high-energy cosmic rays.
Deep beneath the Greenland ice sheet,
scientists have discovered a massive crater,
it was created by the impact
of a mountain sized asteroid
The impact is relatively recent
and hasn't yet been firmly dated,
but the event may help explain some
puzzling climate changes.
This ancient fossil is more than
half a billion years old.
But was it an animal?
An intriguing find suggest it was.
Scientists discovered traces of cholesterol,
a signature of animal life, associated with these fossils
The feat indicates the fossils,
which belong to a mysterious class called Ediacara
were some of Earth’s earliest animals
The first drug based on a gene-silencing reaction
called RNA interference (RNAi),
won approval this year for
use in the United States and Europe.
Researchers discovered RNAi,
which blocks messenger RNA, 20 years ago
The drug, which targets a rare hereditary disease,
could be the first of many.
Until recently, sexual harassment in science
has been underreported and largely ignored
But 2018 brought signs of change.
Several institutions upheld allegations against
prominent scientists accused of sexual harassment,
discrimination, and bullying,
and the U.S. National Academies of Science
issued a report calling for
systemic changes to prevent such abuse.
This year saw increasing evidence that cellular
components condense into tiny droplets--
a process called phase separation.
The droplets can perform critical functions.
Researchers have found they play an unexpected role
in the transcription of genes,
And they identified a possible path
to dissolving solidified droplets
that clog the brain
and contribute to diseases such as
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
From a cave in Siberia, researchers recovered
DNA contained in a bone fragment
of a woman who lived more than 50,000 years ago
Analysis indicated her mother was a Neanderthal
and her father a Denisovan,
a mysterious group of archaic humans.
The finding is the most direct evidence yet that
genetically distinct types of ancient humans interbred.
Police detectives have used a new tool
forensic geneaology
to crack about 20 cold cases, including crimes
committed by the suspected Golden State Killer
The criminals left DNA at the crime scenes
The detectives searched through
a public DNA database
to identify people who had similar DNA
and were likely to be related to the criminals
Researchers have developed a technique based
on electron microscopy that allows them
that allows them to determine the precise shape
of small organic molecules
The new approach is simple, fast,
and works on tiny samples.
It is likely to help speed up drug discovery.
And now, for the breakthrough of the year:
From at least the time of Hippocrates, biologists
have been transfixed by a mystery --
how does a single cell develop
into an adult animal
with multiple organs and billions of cells.
Now a combination of technologies
is allowing scientists to track the development
of organisms and organs in stunning detail
cell by cell, through time.
They can see when genes in individual cells switch on,
cueing the cells to play their specialized parts.
The techniques are like having the sheet music
used by an orchestra
that indicates when the strings, the brass,
percussion, and woodwinds should
chime in to create a symphony
These groundbreaking studies have already
mapped cell fates in organisms from zebrafish to mice,
and more is sure to come.
Science is recognizing this combination
of technologies, and its potential for spurring advances
in basic research and medicine,
as the 2018 Breakthrough of the Year.