Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the U.S., died yesterday at age 100. The "longest-lived president in U.S. history," Carter was a "broker of peace in the Middle East in his time and a tireless advocate for global health and human rights" long after his term in office ended, said The Guardian. In fact, the "common view" is that Carter was a better global leader after his one-term presidency, said ABC News — a judgment that is said to have "annoyed" Carter. 

What did the commentators say?
Carter took office in 1977 as a relative unknown, but his "unfamiliarity with Washington was seen as a virtue after the Watergate and Vietnam war years," said The Guardian. And his early years showed "promise," including clinching a peace deal between Israel and Egypt. His presidency, however, was bogged down in economic and foreign policy crises, "culminating in the Iran hostage crisis," when a "botched" rescue attempt left eight American servicemen dead. 

Although he left office under a shadow, Carter "would go on to become, by common consent, the 'best former president America has ever had,'" said The Times. "Possessed of an almost missionary zeal," he spent the four decades after leaving office as a "sort of one-man United Nations." Carter "became dedicated to promoting democracy, monitoring elections, building homes with Habitat for Humanity and eradicating disease in some of the world's poorest countries," said NPR. 

In 2002, he won the Nobel Peace Prize, ending his acceptance speech with a plea for peace: "War may sometimes be a necessary evil, but no matter how necessary, it's always evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children." 

Carter "showed the country that presidents' duty to serve extends well beyond their years in office," said The Atlantic. He left the Oval Office as a "virtual laughing stock" but "left this earthly life a model of moral leadership." 

What next?
Carter will be honored with a state funeral in Washington on Jan. 9, a national day of mourning. He will be buried in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, next to his late wife, Rosalynn.

Every day, the world's scientists and researchers are working to improve human health, develop medical knowledge and find cures and treatments to improve outcomes for patients. Here are three key medical breakthroughs from this year.  

Bespoke drugs for Alzheimer's 
A Dutch study has raised hopes that Alzheimer's treatment could become much more personalized. Researchers identified five "molecular subtypes" of the disease that each have "clear differences" in their genetics and the "clinical characteristics" that patients display, said Live Science. 

The research team sorted more than 400 Alzheimer's patients into the five subtypes according to the different "levels of specific proteins in their cerebrospinal fluid," a clear liquid that flows around the brain and spinal cord. These proteins are associated with the biological processes that "get derailed in Alzheimer's." The study findings are an "important step" toward being able to give each Alzheimer's patient the "best drug for them at the right stage of their disease."  

'Game changer' for asthma and lung disease 
Doctors are hailing a new treatment for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) attacks as the "first breakthrough for 50 years." It could be a "game changer," said The Guardian. 

In a trial outlined in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, respiratory medicine specialists found that a single high-dose injection of benralizumab was more effective than the current steroid tablets treatment at managing the type of flare-up behind 50% of asthma attacks and 30% of COPD attacks. The injection also cut the "need for further treatment by 30%." Benralizumab is already used at a low dose as a repeat treatment for severe asthma, but the trial results could be "transformative for millions of people with asthma and COPD around the world."  

Personalized cancer vaccines 
Patients in the U.K. being treated for cancer are taking part in National Health Service trials of a "world-first" personalized cancer vaccine, and similar programs have been taking place in the U.S. and other countries. This includes an anti-tumor vaccine to treat liver cancer that showed promise earlier this year during a clinical trial at Johns Hopkins University, as well as a trial at UCLA Health tackling brain tumors using cancer vaccines. Moderna, one of the companies behind the Covid-19 vaccine, is spearheading the NHS trials.