A controversial gene-editing method took major steps toward entering the medical mainstream.
Super muscly animals. Genetically-modified human embryos. An end to the organ-transplant shortage.
All of the above have been promises from the last year, since an easy method of tweaking DNA was first discovered in late 2014. This year, CRISPR-Cas9 earned a Breakthrough ;of the Year Award, beating out other events such as the discovery of Homo Naledi, a previously unknown ancestor to humans and the Pluto flyby, which allowed scientists to get an up-close view of Pluto and its moons for the first time ever. Here's a list of some of the new areas where CRISPR is being tried out:
- Gene-editing company Editas is testing its potential to treat a rare eye disorder
- UC San Diego scientists used it to make malaria-resistant mosquitoes
- Chemical company DuPont is working with gene-editing company Caribou Sciences to try and make allergy-free peanuts
Doctors at NYU are leading the charge toward more full-face transplants, like this one for a firefighter who was badly injured in the line of duty.
Patrick Hardison, a firefighter whose face suffered major burns from a fire in 2001, got a face transplant from a donor in August. The procedure, which had been years in the making, took more than 26 hours and involved more than 100 people.
It involved detaching the face of a donor with the same size face and blood type, among other qualifications, removing Hardison's damaged face, and attaching the donor's face in its place. NYU's Langone Medical Center is hoping to turn this success into making the center the leading face-transplant site in the country.
Scientists created a device that seals a gunshot wound in 20 seconds.
Severe wounds need to be sealed as quickly as possible, and a few seconds can be the difference between life or death in some situations. This year, the FDA approved a device called the XStat, which is a syringe-like device that injects tiny sponges into deep wounds.
Once they make contact with blood, the sponges expand and close up the wound until the person can receive more medical attention. The XStat got initial approval for military use last year, but can now be used for life-threatening situations at home.
Uterus and penis transplants are giving new hope to people who otherwise might not be able to have children.
Within the next few months, surgeons are planning to conduct the first uterus transplant in the US, which could be huge for women who want to get pregnant and were either born without a uterus or have one that's damaged. Only Sweden has successfully completed uterus transplants so far.
In other reproductive transplant news from 2015, doctors will soon attempt the first US penis transplant. So far, the procedure has been done twice; only one succeeded.
Doctors made big moves to harness the immune system to fight cancer.
After years of disappointments and pipe dreams, drugs that use the immune system as a way to treat cancer became a serious reality in 2015. Stories like former President Jimmy Carter, who recently tested cancer-free after using a drug called Keytruda (first approved by the FDA in 2014, but picked up more approvals for different cancers in 2015) to treat his melanoma, suggest the therapy is another great addition to the cancer-fighting tool belt.
Customized prosthetics made us question what's real this year.
While the majority are still far too expensive for the average person in need, prosthetics have come a long, long way this year:
- Scientists at Johns Hopkins created a robotic hand wired directly into the brain of a 28-year-old man with paralysis to allow him to "feel"
- Sophie de Oliveira Barata, who's been called "the undisputed queen of personalized prosthetics," is using silicone and other materials to create remarkably realistic customized prosthetic limbs
- Engineers at Saarland University designed a bionic hand that uses thin strands of nickel-titanium motion-sensing wire to guide movement.
The first-ever vaccine for dengue, the world's fastest-growing mosquito-borne disease, was approved.
In December after decades of research, the Mexican government approved the world's first-ever vaccine to treat dengue, the world's fastest-growing mosquito-borne disease. Dengue is seen as a threat to about half of the world's population, as some 400 million people are infected annually. Because the disease has 4 separate strains, researchers have been hard pressed to find a drug that can tackle them all. But the new vaccine is a promising start.
The first drug to treat female sexual dysfunction was approved.
Women's sexual health had a major breakthrough this year, as the FDA approved Addyi, a pill that is designed to help increase a woman's sexual desire. To its makers' surprise, sales of the drug slumped, however, and its CEO resigned just four months after Addyi got approval and acquired by Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Despite this market failure, the development could lead to more approvals of other drugs to help women with sexual dysfunction.
The idea that you could test people’s blood with a single drop revolutionized the medical industry.
This was a big year for Theranos, the $9-billion blood-testing company that wants to make diagnostic blood tests as simple as just taking a finger-prick's worth of blood. The company got approval for its first test in July, but just a few months later found itself amid a scandal over whether its revolutionary blood tests were as effective or as frequently used as the company made it seem to be.
As more information has come out, even up through this week, it's shown that although Theranos has achieved something significant in 2015, it still has a long way to go before it becomes the standard blood-testing procedure.
The world took major steps towards eradicating HIV/AIDS.
This year, there were major improvements to how we treat and prevent HIV/AIDS. A vaccine for AIDS is making its way into human trials, HIV prevention pills are showing that they're working, and new injections to treat HIV that only have to be taken once every month or two are closer to becoming a reality. In other good news, new daily treatments that are able to keep people with HIV virtually virus-free and have less intense side effects are on track.
