The Scientist’s Top Innovations competition showcases the latest advances in life science techniques and products. Each year’s winners represent the technologies poised to propel research and healthcare forward.
In 2025, The Scientist has recognized 14 winners in four categories. We are happy to announce the new technologies that our panel of independent judges has chosen as this year’s Top Innovations.
Lab Research Tools: Innovations that support groundbreaking research in a variety of life science fields
- CUTANA™ meCUT&RUN, EpiCypher DNA methylation mapping assay
- Evercode™ WT Penta, Parse Biosciences Single-cell RNA sequencing kit
- Lenti-X™ T-Cell Transduction Sponge, Takara Bio Infused matrix for T cell transduction
- Vega Benchtop System, PacBio Compact, long-read sequencer
- Well-Watcher, Labrat d'Or Pipette tracking device
Biotechnology: Advancements in therapeutics, biomanufacturing, agriculture, and beyond
- AVITI24™, Element Biosciences Sequencing and in situ multiomics
- Beacon Discovery™, Bruker Cellular Analysis Live, single-cell functional analysis platform
- CRISPR Cas12l nuclease, Caszyme Precise genome editing via adeno-associated virus vector delivery
- UG 100 with Solaris™, Ultima Genomics Improved workflow for whole genome sequencing
Healthcare and Diagnostics: Diagnostic tests, medical devices, and more striving to bring healthcare to the next level
- Haystack MRD™, Haystack Oncology/Quest Diagnostics Ultrasensitive circulating tumor DNA detection
- Lumipulse® G pTau 217/β-Amyloid 1-42 Plasma Ratio Test, Fujirebio In vitro diagnostic test for Alzheimer's disease
Emerging Startup Technologies: The newest innovations looking to disrupt the market
- Countable PCR, Countable Labs Single molecule counting via light sheet imaging
- Spiroligomer™ Macromolecule DNA-Encoded Library, ThirdLaw Molecular Platform for targeted drug discovery
- Vireo™, Ramona Optics Rapid live-cell imaging system
Thanks to the contest judges
Paul Blainey, PhD
Core Institute Member, Broad Institute
Professor of Biological Engineering, MIT
Extramural Faculty Member, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT
Paul Blainey is a professor of biological engineering at MIT and a core member of the Broad Institute. He specializes in microanalysis systems, developing microfluidic, imaging, and genomic technologies to study individual molecules and cells. His research advances understanding of basic biology and how to disrupt disease processes. Blainey earned his PhD from Harvard University and completed postdoctoral research at Stanford, where he pioneered single-cell microbial genome sequencing.
Joseph Graves Jr, PhD
MacKenzie Scott Endowed Professor of Biology
North Carolina A&T State University
Joseph Graves, Jr received his PhD in environmental, evolutionary and systematic biology from Wayne State University in 1988. In 1994, he was a fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In 2024, he received the Genius Award from the Liberty Science Center. He has also received the Outstanding Alumnus Award (Public Service) from Oberlin College, the Patrusky Lecture for the Science Writers Conference, and the W.W. Howells Award for best book in biological anthropology presented by the American Association of Anthropologists.
Ellen Jorgensen, PhD
Vice President of Biotechnology, CarbonBridge
Founder and President, Biotech Without Borders
Ellen Jorgensen has spent over 40 years in the biotech industry, and in 2018 she cofounded Aanika Biosciences. She is also a leader in the DIYbio movement, cofounding the nonprofit public biolabs Genspace and Biotech Without Borders. In 2017, Fast Company magazine named her one of their Most Creative Leaders in Business. Her TED talks, “Biohacking: You Can Do It Too” and “What You Need To Know About CRISPR” have had over three million views.
Victoria Lewis, MD, MS
Research Associate
Medical Excellence Capital
Victoria Lewis is a research associate at Medical Excellence Capital, an early-stage biotech venture capital firm. Lewis earned her MD from the University of California (UC), San Diego School of Medicine and an MS from UC San Diego and the La Jolla Institute for Immunology. She holds a BS in chemistry from Drexel University, where she graduated summa cum laude.
Elaine Mardis, PhD
Co-executive Director, The Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Professor of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine
Elaine Mardis is the co-executive director of the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and a professor of pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. An internationally recognized expert in cancer genomics and immunogenomics, her ongoing research interests lie in the molecular profiling of pediatric cancers to identify somatic and germline contributors to cancer onset and to characterize the tumor immune microenvironment. Mardis is the former president of the American Association for Cancer Research, a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy, and a member of the US National Academy of Medicine.
H. Steven Wiley, PhD
Senior Scientist, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
H. Steven Wiley is a laboratory fellow and senior scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He is a fellow of the AAAS and was a pioneer in computational and systems biology, publishing some of the earliest models of receptor dynamics. His work is notable for using quantitative measurements from multiple technologies, such as imaging, proteomics, genomics, and molecular biology, to build predictive computational models of signaling networks, especially those involved in cancer.
Editor’s Note:
The judges considered dozens of entries submitted for a variety of life-science products by companies and users. The judging panel evaluated submissions with only basic instructions from The Scientist, and its members were invited to participate based on their familiarity with life science tools and technologies. They have no financial ties to the products or companies involved in the competition. In this issue of The Scientist, any advertisements placed by winners named in this article were purchased after our independent judges selected the winning products and had no bearing on the outcome of the competition.
