The
Breakthrough of the Year is an annual award made by the journal
ScienceScience is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is considered one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals. The peer-reviewed journal, first published in 1880 is circulated weekly and has a print subscriber base of around 130,000...
for the most significant development in scientific research. Originating in 1989 as "the molecule of the year", inspired by Time's
Man of the YearPerson of the Year is an annual issue of the United States newsmagazine Time that features and profiles a man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that "for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year."- History :The tradition of selecting a Man of the...
, it was renamed the "Breakthrough of the year" in 1996. The awarding for the molecule of the year is now done by the International Society For Molecular and Cell Biology and Biotechnology Protocols and Researches (ISMCBBPR).
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Breakthrough of the Year' Start a new discussion about 'Breakthrough of the Year' Answer questions from other users |
The
Breakthrough of the Year is an annual award made by the journal
ScienceScience is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is considered one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals. The peer-reviewed journal, first published in 1880 is circulated weekly and has a print subscriber base of around 130,000...
for the most significant development in scientific research. Originating in 1989 as "the molecule of the year", inspired by Time's
Man of the YearPerson of the Year is an annual issue of the United States newsmagazine Time that features and profiles a man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that "for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year."- History :The tradition of selecting a Man of the...
, it was renamed the "Breakthrough of the year" in 1996. The awarding for the molecule of the year is now done by the International Society For Molecular and Cell Biology and Biotechnology Protocols and Researches (ISMCBBPR).
- 1989 PCR and DNA polymerase
A DNA polymerase is an enzyme that catalyzes the polymerization of deoxyribonucleotides into a DNA strand. DNA polymerases are best-known for their role in DNA replication, in which the polymerase "reads" an intact DNA strand as a template and uses it to synthesize the new strand...
- 1990 the manufacture of synthetic diamonds
- 1991 buckminsterfullerene
- 1992 nitric oxide
Nitric oxide or nitrogen monoxide is a chemical compound with chemical formula NO. This gas is an important signaling molecule in the body of mammals, including humans, and is an extremely important intermediate in the chemical industry...
- 1993 p53
p53 , is a transcription factor which in humans is encoded by the TP53 gene. p53 is important in multicellular organisms, where it regulates the cell cycle and thus functions as a tumor suppressor that is involved in preventing cancer...
- 1994 DNA repair
DNA repair refers to a collection of processes by which a cell identifies and corrects damage to the DNA molecules that encode its genome. In human cells, both normal metabolic activities and environmental factors such as UV light and Radiation can cause DNA damage, resulting in as many as 1...
enzyme
- 1995 Bose–Einstein condensate
A Bose–Einstein condensate is a state of matter of a dilute gas of weakly interacting bosons confined in an external potential and cooled to temperatures very near to absolute zero...
- 1996 understanding HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid,...
- 1997 Dolly the sheep
Dolly was a female domestic sheep remarkable in being the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. She was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh in Scotland. She was born on 5 July 1996 and she...
, the first mammal to be cloned from adult cells
- 1998 the accelerating universe, dark matter
In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is hypothetical matter that is undetectable by its emitted radiation, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter...
- 1999 capturing the promise of youth with stem cells
- 2000 genomics
Genomics is the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis, epistasis, pleiotropy and other...
- 2001 nanocircuits or molecular circuit
- 2002 small RNAs
- 2003 dark energy
In physical cosmology, astronomy and celestial mechanics, dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to increase the rate of expansion of the universe. Dark energy is the most popular way to explain recent observations that the universe appears to be...
- 2004 Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. It is also referred to as the "Red Planet" because of its reddish appearance, due to iron oxide prevalent on its surface....
- 2005 evolution
In biology, evolution is change in the genetic material of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. Though changes produced in any one generation are normally small, differences accumulate with each generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the population, a...
in action
- 2006 proof of the Poincaré conjecture
In mathematics, the Poincaré conjecture is a theorem about the characterization of the three-dimensional sphere among three-dimensional manifolds. It began as a popular, important conjecture, but is now considered a theorem to the satisfaction of the awarders of the Fields medal...
- 2007 Human genetic variation
Human genetic variation is the genetic diversity of humans and represents the total amount of genetic characteristics observed within the human species. Genetic differences are observed between humans at both the individual and the population level. There may be multiple variants of any given gene...
- 2008 Cellular Reprogramming