Katarina Markovic
Patrick Youell
9B Science
January 21, 2016

Science News Review 2015

The year of 2015 has brought upon us many new discoveries about different fascinating topics which reveal bits and pieces of our glorious planets and life in general.

One of the discoveries are microbes, which were found in the Arctic mud, are most likely to be the closest relatives to the single-celled ancestor which has swallowed a bacterium and has sprawled life itself. Biologist theorise that this event had led to the complex cells which had membrane wrapped organelles, it is somewhat like a stamp of all eukaryotes from amoebas to zebras, and it is thought to have happened approximately 1.8 billion years ago. The origin of eukaryotic cells is still a great mystery to biologists which study modern biology.

Figure 1: The membrane which cloaks a cell. 

Biology researchers have exposed a new division of microbes which was named Lokiarchaeota. They had discovered it by screening the DNA from sediment, a natural occurring material that is broken down by weathering and decaying. Even though no person has discovered an actual cell yet, the new division appears to be mixing genes which are similar to those in modern eukaryotes and the genes from archaea, which is a sister group of bacterias. It has been said by Patrick Keeling, the explorer of early eukaryote history, of the University of British Columbia in the city of Vancouver "We don't have all the existing pieces right now because a lot of the diversity of microbial eukaryotes remains unexplored," Examinations propose that cells have dynamic structures that could have swallowed bacteria a long time ago. Biologist suggest representing that merger, mixture of things, as a ring of life, rather than a tree as you can see in figure 2. The image of the eukaryote tree top had changed over time. In the old textbooks the eukaryote tree top branched into three kingdoms of multicellular organisms: animals, plants, and fungi. In the 80's a new studies of genetics had downgraded multicellular kingdoms to minimals side branches which ranged on five to seven larger branches which were made up of largely single celled protists.

                               

                               

Figure 2: On the left we have the picture of the original representation of the merger as a tree and on the right is the following representation which was suggested by biologists.

This discovery is very significant to the human kind and all life in general since we are getting closer to revealing all pieces of our past and origination. Another great discovery was the gene editor ethics debate.

Breakthrough gene editor sparks ethics debate

CRISPR, composed of RNA and enzyme which has the power to slice up invading viruses, had been greatly focused on in 2012. CRISPR (seen in figure 3) lets researchers to edit almost any gene in any organism much more precisely and efficiently than methods which have been used before. Countless people have great hopes that doctors will sooner, rather than later, find a way to use the gene editor to fix mutations which are caused by genetic diseases. With that come great risks and concerns about the possibility of human gremlin editing, which means altering eggs, sperm, embryos and/or in a way that the changes done could possibly be inherited. These concerns have been confronted in April once the researches in China had announced that they had tried to use the system to edit non-viable embryo, embryo which could not survive by itself after birth. Even though it was partially successful, the team had concluded that there were more issues they had to pass over before putting it on clinical use.

Figure 3: CRISPR

An international summit of experts was summoned by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences and Medicine, the Chinese Academy of Science, and the United Kingdom's Royal Society, in  early December last year. They had talked through scientific, ethical and governance issues which are connected to the human gene editing process. It was said by the U.S. representative Bill foster (see in figure 4)  that "We're on the verge of a technological breakthrough that could change the future of making, and we should not blindly charge ahead."

Figure 4: U.S. Representative Bill Foster, member of the House Committee of Science, Space and Technology. 

The significance of the discovery and deeper exploration of gene editing is the opportunity to cure diseases which have been defeating the human kind since life itself has started. This way the average human life span might extend a significant amount. One more article which I find fascinating talks about the evidence of water on Mars. 

Best evidence yet for water on Mars

Water on Mars has been discovered before, but this time the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft had noticed hydrated salt minerals. The so called salty streak is located at the same place as dark, hillside marks which lengthen and shrink as the Martian seasons change. Scientists have concluded that brine, the salt water, most likely drifts from the steep slopes. In figure 5 you can see a image of the reported water on Mars.

Figure 5: Reported image of the water found on Mars

The liquid water which has been discovered may indicate that there might be life on Mars, even though the water is salty. A curiosity rover, which you can see in figure 6 bellow, has been roaming around Mars since 2012. Nitrogen, which is used to create biological molecules such as, DNA and Protein on Earth, has been discovered on planet Mars.  The studies of six Martian meteoroids exposed that they contain methane which is a source of food for microbes on Earth. The indication of possible life on Mars may lead to the human kind finding a substitute plane which might save the human race if we pollute and destroy our planet so severely that we will be forced to relocate, if even possible.

Figure 6: The Curiosity Rover which is located on Mars since 2012. 

I believe that these three articles mark three of the greatest discoveries during the year of 2015. Researchers have discovered an organism which is now thought of as our closest single celled ancestor, scientists have found ways to alternate our genes and change mutations possibly saving many lives, and last but not least they have found evidence of one of our most important resources, water, on another planet. First unravelling more about our human history, to possibly finding a way to cure horrifying diseases and even a new location for us to live. It has been an incredible year of stunning discoveries.