A MOMENT OF AWE

TOP 10 BREAKTHROUGHS OF '07

1. Researchers Turn Skin Cells to Stem Cells Using a virus to reprogramme skin cells, two teams of scientists managed to skirt the greatest ethical issue facing regenerative medicine — the destruction of human embryos. Groups led by Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University and Junying Yu of University of Wisconsin coaxed a type of skin cell called fibroblasts into forming muscle, heart, fat and nerve tissues without using any eggs.

2. Enzymes Convert Any Blood Type to O In April, Henrik Clausen, a professor at the University of Denmark, published research in Nature describing a way to convert any kind of blood into Type O — the type that almost anyone can tolerate. He discovered enzymes that shear the problem-causing sugars from the surfaces of A, B and AB type red blood cells. Produced by bacteria, the molecular machines could theoretically turn any kind of blood into Type O.

3. Mummified Dinosaur Excavated Paleontologists from England’s University of Manchester have excavated the mummy of a nearly intact plant-eating dinosaur. Preserved by minerals for over 65 million years, the petrified body is in such pristine condition that the researchers could see a striped pattern on what remains of its scales.

4. Planet Discovered That Could Harbour Life After Stéphane Udry and his colleagues found a pair of planets that they believed could harbour life, other researchers disputed which of the two is most habitable, but agreed that the distant solar system is worthy of further study. Udry inferred that the most promising object is slightly larger than earth, circles its sun in 18 days, and may be rocky.

5. Genetically altered Mice shed fear Scientists used genetic engineering to create mice that show no fear of felines, a development that may shed new light on mammal behaviour and the nature of fear itself. Scientists at Tokyo University said they were able to switch off a mouse’s instinct to cower at the smell or presence of cats — showing that fear is genetically hard-wired and not learned through experience.

6. Transparent Material as Strong as Steel Engineering researchers at the University of Michigan have created a material similar to “transparent aluminum”. In the issue of Science, Nicholas Kotov showed that clay is good for far more than making bricks and expensive skincare products. The earthen material is made up of phenomenally strong nanometer-sized particles. When arranged neatly between thin layers of a sticky but weak plastic, the tiny bits of dirt act as the ultimate reinforcements — giving the ordinary material extraordinary strength.

7. Monkey Cloned to Produce Stem Cells At Oregon Health and Science University, Shoukhrat Mitalipov and his team cloned a Rhesus Monkey and used the resulting embryo to create stem cells. Until then, the impressive feat had been performed only with mice. In November, the team reported in Nature a surprising key to their success: avoiding ultraviolet light and dyes because they can damage delicate cells.

8. Transistors Get Way Smaller Intel announced that the element hafnium and some new metal alloys will allow them to make the millions of switches on their microprocessors far smaller. Gordon Moore called it the biggest change in transistor technology since the 1960s. The accomplishment allows Intel to squeeze features on each chip down to 45 nanometers from the current standard of 65 nanometers. But the greatest benefit may be an increase in energy efficiency.

9. Chimpanzees Make Spears for Hunting Two anthropologists watched in amazement as several female chimpanzees crafted spears and used them to brutally hunt smaller mammals. Following a troop of the primates in a Senegalese savanna, Jill Pruetz of Iowa State University and Paco Bertolani of Cambridge observed them breaking the branches off of trees, picking leaves from the sides, and sharpening the tips to deadly points.

10. Soft Tissue from T Rex Leg Bone Analyzed This spring, the oldest patient at a medical centre in Boston was a 68-m-yr-old T Rex. Experts analyzed biological molecules from the creature. Working with soft tissue from a leg bone that was extremely well-preserved in sediments, John Asara read the chemical recipe of a protein that served as a springy structural element in its bones. He concluded that it has a lot in common with chickens.