• Question: in your opinion what has been the most important discovery so far during the 21st century

    Asked by tdaddy to Gavin, Karen, Mark, Michel, Roisin on 12 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Mark Kennedy

      Mark Kennedy answered on 12 Nov 2016:

      For me, the biggest discovery so far happened this year, which was the discovery of gravitational waves.

      For as long as humans have looked up at the night sky, the only way we have been able to probe the mysteries of the Universe was by using electromagnetic radiation (light, x-rays, radio waves, gamma waves).

      That all changed this year when LIGO detected gravitational waves, which are a totally new way of looking at our Universe. It was also the first direct detection of black holes, which means black holes actually exist and aren’t just a theory anymore!

    • Photo: Karen

      Karen answered on 13 Nov 2016:

      For me it’s a medical discovery/ breakthrough… It is the growing of a patients trachea (windpipe) from their own stem cells. Stem cells (cells that have not yet differentiated yet…ie decided what sort of cell there are going to be) were removed from the patients bone marrow and new trachea was grown in the lab and transplanted to the patient (removing their damaged one). It is a huge breakthrough as it could eventually mean kidneys, hearts, lungs etc could be grown thus reducing the need for transplant waiting lists, complications such as organ rejection and grateful vs host disease following transplant and the need to be on harsh immunosuppressive drugs for life. Pretty amazing Really!

    • Photo: Roisin Jones

      Roisin Jones answered on 13 Nov 2016:

      I think one of the most important scientific discoveries thus far in the 21st century has been the advent of 3D printing: while it’s generally an interesting concept, I think that what makes it such an important discovery is the ability to 3D print organs for people who need a transplant, e.g. heart, kidney, liver, etc. While we’ve still not reached the stage where mass production has been started, I think it’s not that far off, and when it does become more commonplace it will bring in a massive change to the way transplant medicine works.

    • Photo: Michel Destrade

      Michel Destrade answered on 16 Nov 2016:

      I would say the sequencing of the human genome. I think it will lead to a revolution in the treatment of diseases.

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