The past year saw some amazing science and technology breakthroughs and discoveries.
These include the fantastic photos of Pluto and its moons by the New Horizons mission; the discovery of Homo naledi, a new member of the human family in the depths of a South African cave; and the sighting of liquid water on the surface of Mars; and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage boostersuccessfully landing at Cape Canaveral.
New scientific discoveries and technology developments regularly provoke and guide discussions of public policy.
Keeping that in mind, below are this year’s top 8 science and technology stories whose consequences will reverberate well beyond this year.Number 1: CRISPR. It could easily be Numbers 2 through 8 too on this list.
Science declared CRISPR the Scientific Breakthrough of the Year, correctly noting, “It’s the simple truth.
For better or worse, we all now live in CRISPR’s world.”
CRISPR is easy for biotechnologists to use and makes almost any imaginable genetic manipulation possible.
Derived from what amounts to a bacterial immune system for fighting off attacking viruses, the CRISPR gene-editing technique was first developed barely three years ago.
CRISPR can edit genes much like a word processing program can edit text.
Researchers hope it will allow them to cure cancer, correct genetic diseases, generate more productive and nutritious crops and farm animals, spread desired genetic modifications through wild ecosystems, engineer pigs as organ donors for people, and prevent heritable diseases by altering the genomes of human embryos—all in the not-so-distant future.
In December, some 400 scientists, ethicists, policy makers, and activists convened at the International Summit on Human Gene Editing declined to recommend a permanent ban on making inheritable changes in the human genome
Number 2: Cimate change and the adoption of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change by diplomats from nearly 200 countries.
Read 'em all
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