Cancer immunotherapy is Science’s Breakthrough of the Year 2013
Cancer immunotherapy is this year’s biggest breakthrough in science. The journal Science announced that today, including a top 10 of other breakthroughs. According to the editorial board of Science, harassing the immune system to battle tumor cells itself is, the biggest turning point in oncology this year.
For decades scientists thought that such an approach to cancer therapy should be possible, but it has been incredibly difficult to make it work. This year, several clinical studies have shown the potential of immunotherapy. Science calls this breakthrough a paradigm shift. “We’ve turned a corner and we’re never going back.”
Other breakthroughs according to Science are new techniques to change genes in living cells, experiments in which stem cells create working mini organs, the cloning of human cells, and an important part of the vaccine against the respiratoir syncytial virus.
Source: Science