Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
3:00
Share

Although it appears to be trying its damnedest, 2021 has not yet sapped me of my hope that humanity can turn a corner and put the horrors of 2020 in our rearview mirror. As I’ve written in previous dispatches, what anchors me to this hope is science.

Since the calendar turned, the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened; new, more-infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants are cropping up around the globe; vaccine rollout has been slower than anticipat-ed; and political division has reached a fever pitch here in the US. But the steady pace of scientific discovery and development churns on. And even with so many aspects of our lives and work bearing the scars of 2020’s tumult (some wounds are indeed still fresh), we at The Scientist, as well as those in the research community we serve and like-minded members of the general public, continue to look to science, reason, and fact as the ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
Share
Image of small blue creatures called Nergals. Some have hearts above their heads, which signify friendship. There is one Nergal who is sneezing and losing health, which is denoted by minus one signs floating around it.
June 2025, Issue 1

Nergal Networks: Where Friendship Meets Infection

A citizen science game explores how social choices and networks can influence how an illness moves through a population.

View this Issue
Unraveling Complex Biology with Advanced Multiomics Technology

Unraveling Complex Biology with Five-Dimensional Multiomics

Element Bioscience Logo
Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

Twist Bio 
The Scientist Placeholder Image

Seeing and Sorting with Confidence

BD
The Scientist Placeholder Image

Streamlining Microbial Quality Control Testing

MicroQuant™ by ATCC logo

Products

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Agilent Unveils the Next Generation in LC-Mass Detection: The InfinityLab Pro iQ Series

parse-biosciences-logo

Pioneering Cancer Plasticity Atlas will help Predict Response to Cancer Therapies

waters-logo

How Alderley Analytical are Delivering eXtreme Robustness in Bioanalysis