Welcome to 2023 folks!
Happy to have you all here with me. In the spirit of everyone making predictions and recaps of the last year, I am here to join the fun.
Here are the Top 10 Life Science Achievements from 2022 that I think are incredible uses of the tools that we got from evolution. All of these tools, in no particular order, are building a better world with biology!
1. Organs Revived from Dead Pigs
Researchers have restored circulation and cellular activity in the vital organs of pigs one hour after the animals died, which could have implications for the definition of death and the ethics of post-mortem organ donation. The team used a system called OrganEx to pump a blood substitute containing 13 compounds including anticoagulants throughout the pigs' bodies, which slowed decomposition and restored some organ function such as heart contraction and activity in the liver and kidneys. While some brain tissue was preserved, the researchers did not observe any coordinated brain activity that would indicate the animals had regained consciousness or sentience. The team has said that the results do not show that the pigs have been reanimated after death, especially in the absence of electrical activity in the brain.
2. A.I. Predicts the Shape of 200M Proteins
DeepMind has used its AlphaFold network to predict the structures of over 200 million proteins from around 1 million species, allowing for the identification of the 3D shape of almost any protein. The information is available on a free database set up by DeepMind and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute. Accurate protein structure prediction can improve understanding of how proteins function and potentially facilitate the development of new drugs. The AlphaFold database may also be useful for verifying and validating experimental data, as well as identifying new families of proteins.
3. NASA Hits an Asteroid with DART
NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission has successfully altered the orbit of asteroid Dimorphos, marking the first time humans have intentionally changed the motion of a celestial object. The spacecraft collided with Dimorphos on 26 September and data analysis shows that the impact altered the asteroid's orbit around its parent asteroid, Didymos, by 32 minutes, bringing it from an 11 hour and 55-minute orbit to 11 hours and 23 minutes. This measurement has a margin of uncertainty of around plus or minus two minutes. The mission is the first full-scale demonstration of asteroid deflection technology and could help protect Earth from a collision with an asteroid. This counts as a Life Science win for me because, for as far as we know, no living thing on Earth has ever had the capability to hit an extinction causing object. Now we have a hope the dinosaurs didn’t have if we did spot an asteroid headed towards Earth.
4. Brain Cells Grown in Lab Played Pong
Human and mouse neurons in a dish have learned to play the video game Pong, according to a study published in the journal Neuron. The neurons were connected to a computer and monitored using electric probes while they received feedback on their in-game performance. The neurons modified their behavior over time, strengthening their response when they hit the ball and adapting to the changing environment in a goal-oriented way. The research team believes that the study, which was led by Brett Kagan of Cortical Labs in Melbourne, Australia, could have applications in disease modelling, drug discoveries and understanding how the brain works.
5. Pig Organ Transplanted into People
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a human patient, marking a significant milestone in the field of xenotransplantation, which involves the transplantation of organs from one species to another. The procedure, which was carried out at the University of Maryland Medical Center, saw 57-year-old David Bennett become the first living person to receive a pig heart. In recent months, NYU Langone Health and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have also announced successful transplants of pig kidneys into people who had been declared brain dead. Pig organs are considered a potential alternative to human organs due to their size and similarities in anatomy, but they have historically been rejected by human recipients due to differences in genetics. However, advances in gene editing have made it possible to modify pig organs to be more compatible with human recipients.
6. EPA Approves Oxitec Mosquito Experiment Expansion
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a permit amendment that allows the expansion and extension of field tests for genetically engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (OX5034) to reduce mosquito populations in the US. The permit, which was originally granted in May 2020 and allowed for testing in Florida and Texas until April 2022, has now been extended until April 2024 for use on 5,360 acres in Monroe County, Florida. It has also been expanded to four counties in California – Stanislaus, Fresno, Tulare and San Bernardino – for the first time, covering 29,400 acres, and testing may take place in these areas until April 2024. The use of the OX5034 mosquitoes, which can transmit diseases such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya, could reduce the use of pesticides for mosquito control, particularly in communities with environmental justice concerns.
7. GUIDED Trial Shows Improved Mental Health Using Genetics Guided Therapy
A Canadian clinical trial has found that patients with depression achieved improved response and remission rates when their treatment was guided by pharmacogenomic testing, compared to treatment as usual (TAU). The study found that patients in the guided-care arm had greater symptom improvement, response and remission rates compared to those in the TAU group, although the differences were not statistically significant. The results were similar to those of a larger trial in the US, called GUIDED, which also found that pharmacogenomic testing improved response and remission rates in patients with depression. The combined results of the two trials suggest that pharmacogenomic testing could be an effective tool to guide depression treatment in Canadian healthcare settings. This is a huge win for Mental Health.
8. We’re Bringing Back White Rhinos with Stem Cells
Researchers have developed cells that have the potential to form sperm and eggs from the skin cells of northern white rhinos, raising the possibility that lab-grown embryos could be used to save the animals from extinction. The last male northern white rhino, Sudan, died in March 2018 and the only two remaining are both female. Researchers have used sperm from deceased male northern white rhinos to fertilize egg cells collected from the females and have produced 22 frozen northern white rhino embryos that could be implanted in southern white rhinos, a closely related subspecies. Another approach would be to use southern white rhino skin cells to create stem cells that could be coaxed into becoming egg and sperm cells.
9. A Blood Test Better at Predicting Pre-Eclampsia Than Standard Care
It is shown that cell free RNA signatures from a single blood draw can track pregnancy progression at the placental, maternal and fetal levels and can robustly predict pre-eclampsia, with a sensitivity of 75% and a positive predictive value of 32.3% which is superior to the state-of-the-art method.
10. Leukemia Cures Becoming Common
This is less of a single paper and more of continued trend. Now up to 80% of leukemia types can be cured or treated into remission for 10+ years. There are many types of treatments, but the recent advances of cell therapies have really tipped the scale in our favor. There is a very real future where nearly all kinds of blood cancers are curable within this decades!