This year revealed just how much scientists have learned about the disease, from how animals become naturally cancer-resistant to how tumor cells harness extracellular DNA to develop rapid drug resistance.
Beyond The Scientist’s coverage of COVID-19’s molecular underpinnings were many other stories highlighting the advances made in scientists’ understanding of the biology of cells.
The scientific community bid farewell to researchers who furthered the fields of molecular biology, virology, sleep science, and immunology, among others.
This year’s most captivating illustrations tell stories from the micro scale—such as newborn neurons in the adult brain and bacteria in the infant gut—to the scale of entire ecosystems, including reintroduced predators and rising seas.
Licensing negotiations between libraries and publishers continued, a radical open-access plan made changes, and the flaws of some publishing tools and techniques came to light.
For the past 10 years, life science has moved us closer to a complete understanding of what makes us human—our similarities, our differences, and our shared history.
The Scientist’s reporters tracked the development of CAR T cell therapies, explored the Neanderthal DNA in our genomes, and dove into a CRISPR controversy.
This year’s most beautiful illustrations covered topics including the molecular underpinnings of Parkinson’s disease and strategies for tracking marine organisms around the world’s oceans.