8 recent scientific breakthroughs

New scientific research is coming out every day, but a lot of it does not make major headlines. Some of these findings, however, have the potential to change the world. Here are eight recent scientific developments to keep your eye on.

1. Growing a spine

Scientists have found a way to grow a backbone — literally — according to a study published in the journal Nature. Researchers were able to "coax human stem cells to develop into the 'notochord,' which plays a critical role in organizing tissue in developing human embryos and later becomes the intervertebral discs of the spinal column," said Cosmos Magazine. Specifically, the notochord acts as a "GPS" for an embryo's nervous system, James Briscoe, the senior author of the study, said in a statement.

"What's particularly exciting is that the notochord in our lab-grown structures appears to function similarly to how it would in a developing embryo," Tiago Rito, the first author of the study, said in the statement. "It sends out chemical signals that help organize surrounding tissue, just as it would during typical development." The findings could help further research into how birth defects affect the spine or spinal cord. "It could also be valuable for studying intervertebral discs — the shock-absorbing cushions located between your vertebrate that actually forms from the notochord itself," said Popular Mechanics.

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2. Designing a sunlight reactor

Scientists have created a prototype reactor that can harvest hydrogen fuel using only sunlight and water. Green hydrogen, a "climate-neutral process that uses renewable energy sources to create hydrogen," has been a "growing conversation among renewable fuel experts," said Popular Mechanics. However, "only .1% of all hydrogen production can be described as 'green,'" because it "requires so much renewable energy to create, making the process cost prohibitive."

A paper published in the journal Frontiers in Science details a reactor built with photocatalytic sheets that can split water into its elements (hydrogen and oxygen) using the power of the sun. "Obviously, solar energy conversion technology cannot operate at night or in bad weather, but by storing the energy of sunlight as the chemical energy of fuel materials, it is possible to use the energy anytime and anywhere," said Popular Mechanics. However, the product is still in its infancy. "The most important aspect to develop is the efficiency of solar-to-chemical energy conversion by photocatalysts," a senior author of the paper, Kazunari Domen, said in a statement. "If it is improved to a practical level, many researchers will work seriously on the development of mass production technology and gas separation processes, as well as large-scale plant construction."

3. Panda stem cells

Although giant pandas are no longer considered endangered, they are still a vulnerable species. The good news is that scientists may have found a way to support their survival by taking giant panda skin cells and transforming them into stem cells, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances. The stem cells can then be "nudged into becoming any kind of cell in the body" and "could help researchers breed more giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and develop treatments for their diseases," said Science News.

Stem cells are a "self-renewing, inexhaustible source of material from endangered species, capable of regenerating various cell types as needed," and they "could serve as a crucial tool in preventing species extinction," said the study. Successfully creating the stem cells was a difficult process because researchers have to go "back to the basics" for every animal — and "what worked on humans and mice did not work for pandas," Pierre Comizzoli, a gamete biologist at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, said to The Scientist. While it will still be a while before we see a lab-grown giant panda, scientists want to use the cells to create panda embryos.

4. Monkey communication

Marmoset monkeys use names to refer to each other, according to a study published in the journal Science. Scientists "recorded spontaneous 'phee-call' dialogues between pairs of marmoset monkeys," said the study. "We discovered that marmosets use these calls to vocally label their conspecifics. Moreover, they respond more consistently and correctly to calls that are specifically directed at them." This type of behavior had only been seen in humans, elephants and dolphins previously. "This is the first time that we have seen this in non-human primates," David Omer, the lead author of the study, said to CNN. ​​

The study raises questions as to whether this form of communication is rare or if it has simply not been researched enough. "I think that as we refine our paradigms and our techniques of acoustic analysis, we will find that many other social animals have more complexity in their communication systems than we currently realize," Con Slobodchikoff, a professor emeritus of biology at Northern Arizona University, said to The Washington Post. "This paper is a good nudge toward us changing our views about animal capabilities and intelligence."

5. Finding the root cause of lupus

Scientists have discovered a cause of lupus and a possible way to reverse it. A study published in the journal Nature points to abnormalities in the immune system of lupus patients that is caused by a molecular abnormality. "What we found was this fundamental imbalance in the types of T cells that patients with lupus make," Deepak Rao, one of the study authors, said to NBC News. Specifically, "people with lupus have too much of a particular T cell associated with damage in healthy cells and too little of another T cell associated with repair," NBC News said.

The good news is that this could be reversed. A protein called interferon is mainly to blame for the T-cell imbalance. Too much interferon blocks another protein called the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, which helps regulate how the body responds to bacteria or environmental pollutants. In turn, too many T-cells are produced that attack the body itself. "The study found that giving people with lupus anifrolumab, a drug that blocks interferon, prevented the T-cell imbalance that likely leads to the disease," said NBC News.

6. Restoring brain cells

Scientists have found a way to repair brain cells impaired by a rare genetic disorder. A study published in the journal Nature found that a drug called antisense oligonucleotide allowed human neurons to develop normally despite carrying a mutation due to a genetic disorder called Timothy syndrome. "It's the beginning of a new era for many of these diseases that we first thought were untreatable," Dr. Huda Zoghbi, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine, said to NPR.

Timothy syndrome is caused by a mutation of a single gene in a person's DNA. The new drug develops an "antisense nucleotide, a small piece of synthetic genetic material that alters the proteins made by a cell," said NPR. The antisense nucleotide for Timothy syndrome was designed to replace a defective protein with a healthy version — "in effect counteracting the mutation responsible for the disorder." This same approach could potentially be used to treat other genetic disorders, "including some that cause schizophrenia, epilepsy, ADHD and autism spectrum disorder."

7. Menstrual blood as a diagnostic tool

Menstrual blood can potentially be used to measure blood sugar. In early 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new diagnostic menstrual pad called the Q-Pad and A1C Test by the biotechnology research company Qvin. The Q-Pad is an organic cotton period pad that "collects the blood, which a laboratory then uses to analyze the individual's average blood sugar over three weeks through the A1C biomarker," said Forbes.

"There is a lot of clinically relevant information in this bodily fluid that comes every month," Sara Naseri, the CEO and co-founder of Qvin, said to Axios. The company wants to "prove that period blood is a noninvasive, convenient medium that doctors have been overlooking when it comes to performing a variety of tests," said The New Yorker. Diagnostic capabilities can potentially be extended to diagnose HPV or endometriosis.

8. Rhino IVF

Scientists were able to impregnate a southern white rhino using in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Researchers in Kenya implanted a southern white rhino embryo into another of the same species using the technique in September 2023, resulting in a successful pregnancy. The technique could be used to save the northern white rhino from total extinction. "It's very challenging in such a big animal, in terms of placing an embryo inside the reproductive tract, which is almost 2m inside the animal," Susanne Holtze, a scientist at Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany, said to the BBC.

There are two species of white rhinos: northern and southern. The northern white rhino is on the verge of extinction due to poaching, with only two females remaining. Luckily, scientists have sperm preserved from the last male rhino, which could be combined with an egg from the female and implanted into a southern white rhino female to act as a surrogate. Using a white rhino embryo to test the procedure was a "proof of concept" which is a "milestone to allow us to produce northern white rhino calves in the next two, two and a half years," Thomas Hildebrandt, the head of the reproduction management department at the Leibniz Institute, said in a statement.