HIV study top breakthrough
A game-changing study that showed how drugs can prevent the transmission of HIV has been named Science journal's Breakthrough of the 2011.
The HPTN 052 trial recruited 1,763 heterosexual couples from nine different countries, each of which included one partner infected by the HIV virus that triggers Aids.
Anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) were administered immediately to half the infected individuals.
Earlier last year the dramatic impact of the treatment led to the trial being halted four years early.
The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that people infected with HIV are 96 per cent less likely to transmit the virus to their partners after ARV treatment.
Science news correspondent Jon Cohen said: "Many researchers now believe it is possible to break the back of the epidemic in specific locales with the right package of interventions."
The journal's top ten list of groundbreaking scientific achievements from 2011 also included:
The Hayabusha Mission: Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft returned to Earth with dust from the surface of a large S-type asteroid.
Unravelling human origins: Researchers discovered that many people still carry DNA variants inherited from archaic humans.
Capturing a photosynthetic protein: Scientists in Japan mapped the structure of plant proteins used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen atoms.
Pristine gas in space: Astronomers using the Keck telescope in Hawaii detected two clouds of hydrogen gas that appear to have maintained their original chemistry for two billion years after the Big Bang.
Getting to know the microbiome: Research on the countless microbes that live in the human gut showed that everyone has a dominant bacterium in their digestive tract.
A promising malaria vaccine: Early results from a clinical trial that enrolled more than 15,000 children raised hopes of developing a successful malaria vaccine.
Strange solar systems: Astronomers probed several distant planetary systems and came up with some bizarre findings.
Designer zeolites: Zeolites are porous minerals described as "molecular sieves" that have a broad range of applications. This year a new range of cheaper, high performing zeolites were developed.
Clearing senescent cells: Research showed that clearing "senescent" cells - cells which have stopped dividing - from the bodies of mice can delay age-related symptoms such as cataracts and muscle weakness.
Weird Science Factoid: There are an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald's Big Mac bun.
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Daniel Smith - a long time ago, in a galaxy far away just north of Watford, Daniel fancied himself as a scientist but turned out to be the worst scientist since that bloke who mapped out all those canals on Mars that turned out to be scratches on his telescope's lens. Luckily, he is now not working on the Large Hadron Collider inadvertently creating a black hole that would swallow the world but is safely behind a desk writing this blog, bringing you the fantastical underbelly of nature... weird science.
