Breakthrough of the Year

The Breakthrough of the Year is an annual award made by the AAAS journal, Science, for the most significant development in scientific research. Originating in 1989 as the Molecule of the Year, and inspired by Time's Man of the Year, it was renamed the Breakthrough of the Year in 1996. The Breakthrough of the Year is widely recognized as one of the highest distinctions in science.

Molecule of the Year

• 1989 PCR and DNA polymerase^[1]
• 1990 the manufacture of synthetic diamonds^[2]
• 1991 buckminsterfullerene^[3]
• 1992 nitric oxide^[4]
• 1993 p53^[5]
• 1994 DNA repair enzyme^[6]

Since 2002 the Molecule of the Year has been awarded by the International Society For Molecular and Cell Biology and Biotechnology Protocols and Researches (ISMCBBPR).^[7]

• 2002 All-trans-Retinoic Acid^[8]
• 2003 Adenovirus GP&NP of the Ebola Vaccine^[9]
• 2004 Imidazoleacetic acid-ribotide^[10]
• 2005 4E10^[11]
• 2006 hsa-mir-155 and hsa-let-7a-2^[12]
• 2007 PKD2L1^[13]
• 2008 anti-SAG 421-433 catalytic IgA^[14]
• 2009 Sleeping Beauty Transposase SB 100X^[15]
• 2010 FOXM1^{[16][17][18][19]}
• 2011 BMP7^[20]
• 2012 Desmosterol^[21]

Breakthrough of the Year

Top 10 scientific breakthroughs and the winners of each year.

• 1996: Understanding HIV^[22]
  • Original mysteries
  • Prions hit the press
  • Cyber crush
  • Lasers in the limelight
  • T-cell tales
  • Earthly revolutions
  • Yeast on the rise
  • Early orientation
  • Divining the death wish
• 1997: Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from adult cells^[23]
• 1998: Accelerating universe^[24]
• 1999: Capturing the promise of youth with stem cells^[25]
  • Genomics Speeds Ahead
  • How the Other Half Cools
  • Rally for Ribosomes
  • Plentiful Planets
  • Making Memories
  • Flat and Happy
  • New Light on Photonics
  • Tracking Distant Ancestors
  • Mystery Flashes Unveiled
• 2000: Full genome sequencing^[26]
  • Ribosome Revelations
  • Fossil Find
  • One Word--Organics
  • New Cells for Old
  • Water, Water, Everywhere
  • Cosmic BOOMERANG
  • Good Reception
  • NEAR spacecraft
  • Quantum Curiosities
• 2001: Nanocircuits or Molecular circuit^[27]
  • RNA Ascending
  • So What's Neu?
  • Genomes Take Off
  • Superconductor Surprises
  • Guide Me Home
  • Climatic Confidence
  • Cancer in the Crosshairs
  • Banner Year for Bose-Einstein
  • Carbon Consensus
• 2002: RNA interference^[28]
  • Neutrino insights
  • Genome progress
  • CMB structure and polarization
  • Attosecond physics
  • TRP channels
  • Cryoelectron tomography
  • Adaptive optics
  • Retina receptors
  • The Toumaï fossil
• 2003: Dark energy^[29]
  • Genes for mental illness
  • Climate change impacts
  • RNA's many roles
  • Single-molecule techniques
  • Gamma ray bursts
  • Sex cells from stem cells
  • “Left-handed” materials
  • Y chromosome sequence
  • Anti-angiogenesis treatments
• 2004: Spirit rover landed on Mars^[30]
  • The Littlest Human
  • Clone Wars
  • Bose–Einstein Condensate
  • Hidden DNA Treasures
  • Prized Pulsar Pair
  • Documenting Diversity Declines
  • Splish, Splash
  • Healthy Partnerships
  • Genes, Genes Everywhere
• 2005: Evolution in action^[31]
  • Planetary probes
  • Plant development
  • Violent neutron stars
  • Genetics of brain disease
  • Earth's differentiation
  • Potassium channels
  • Climate change
  • Systems biology
  • ITER nuclear fusion experiment
• 2006: Proof of the Poincaré conjecture^[32]
  • Paleogenomics
  • Shrinking ice
  • Tiktaalik fossil fish
  • Cloaking technology
  • Macular degeneration patients
  • Biodiversity and speciation
  • Sub-diffraction-limit microscopy
  • LTP process for record new memories
  • Small piRNAs molecules
• 2007: Human genetic variation^[33]
  • Reprogramming cells
  • High-energy cosmic rays
  • Receptor visions
  • Beyond silicon: oxide interfaces
  • Quantum spin Hall effect
  • T cell division
  • Direct chemistry efficient
  • Memory and imagination
  • Computer solving checkers
• 2008: Cellular reprogramming^[34]
  • Seeing Exoplanets
  • Cancer Genes
  • New High-Temperature Superconductors
  • Watching Proteins at Work
  • Water to Burn
  • The Video Embryo
  • Fat of a Different Color
  • Proton's Mass "Predicted"
  • Sequencing Bonanza
• 2009: Ardipithecus ramidus^[35]
  • Opening Up the Gamma Ray Sky
  • ABA Receptors
  • Mock Monopoles Spotted
  • Live Long and Prosper
  • An Icy Moon Revealed
  • Gene Therapy Returns
  • Graphene Takes Off
  • Hubble Reborn
  • First X-ray Laser Shines
• 2010: The first quantum machine^[36]
  • Synthetic biology
  • Neandertal genome
  • HIV prophylaxis
  • Exome Sequencing/Rare disease genes
  • Molecular dynamics simulations
  • Quantum simulator
  • Next-generation genomics
  • RNA reprogramming
  • The return of the rat
• Insights of the Decade: Science survey that looked at the 10 insights that have changed science since the dawn of the new millennium.
  • The dark genome
  • Precision cosmology
  • Ancient DNA
  • Water on Mars
  • Reprogramming cells
  • The micobiome
  • Exoplanets
  • Inflammation
  • Metamaterials
  • Climate change research
• 2011: HIV treatment as prevention (HPTN 052)^[37]
  • Hayabusa satellite
  • Ancient interbreeding
  • Photosystem II
  • Pristine gas
  • Microbiome
  • Malaria vaccine
  • Exoplanets
  • Designer Zeolites
  • Senescent cells
• 2012: Discovery of the Higgs boson^[38]
  • Denisovan genome
  • Genome engineering
  • Neutrino mixing angle
  • ENCODE research project
  • Curiosity landing
  • X-ray laser advances
  • Controlling bionics
  • Majorana fermions
  • Eggs from stem cells
• 2013: Cancer immunotherapy^[39]
  • Genetic microsurgery for the masses
  • CLARITY makes it perfectly clear
  • Human Cloning at last
  • Dishing up mini-organs
  • Cosmic particle accelerators identified
  • Newcomer juices up the race to harness sunlight
  • To sleep, perchance to clean
  • Your microbes, your health
  • In vaccine design, looks do matter
• 2014: Rosetta comet mission^[40]
  • The birth of birds
  • Using young blood to fight old age
  • Robots that cooperate
  • Chips that mimic the brain
  • The world’s oldest cave art
  • Cells that might cure diabetes
  • Manipulating memories
  • Rise of the CubeSat
  • Giving life a bigger genetic alphabet
• 2015: CRISPR genome-editing method ^[41]
  • Homo naledi
  • Ebola vaccine
  • Psychology replication
  • Pluto (New Horizons spacecraft)
  • Paleoindian DNA
  • Mantle plumes
  • Opiate pathway in yeast
  • Lymphatic system in the central nervous system
  • Bell's theorem

See also

Other Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year:

• Physics World (physics)
• Wired (website) (sciences)

References

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