Top Scientific Breakthroughs Of 2011
From a game-changing AIDS medication to the little Neanderthal we all carry in us, it's been a big year for science.
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ccording to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, there are ten great scientific breakthroughs this year that deserve acknowledgement. The top honor was reserved for a potentially game-changing study for HIV/AIDS patients. The study, called HPTN 052, showed the antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) not only slow the progression of the disease in patients already infected, but virtually eliminate transmission to uninfected individuals. In fact, the study was so incredibly effective that four years before it was slated to end, a third party monitoring board declared that all subjects, even the control group, were to be immediately vaccinated with the ARVs. Here, in no particular order, are a few of the highlights. John Cohen, who wrote the covers story in Science, had this to say about the findings.
