2005年科学医学领域重大新闻

Snuppy made his debut at a press conference in Seoul last August. Although other animals have been cloned, dogs have proven more difficult. Because dogs suffer a number of diseases that also afflict their owners, scientists are hoping genetic research on dogs will lead to improved health for both species. American cell biologist Gerald Schatten worked with Professor Hwang Woo Suk on this experiment. “Wouldn’t it be a marvelous thing that our best friends would be the first beneficiaries of stem cell medicine? And in learning whether it’s safe and effective in our companions we may also know whether it’s safe and effective for our loved ones,” said Dr. Schatten.

Professor Hwang, whose research created Snuppy, also announced he was able to create stem cell colonies from individual patients through cloning, an achievement that’s a step closer to allowing scientists to regenerate worn-out or damaged body tissues. But by the year’s end there were allegations some of the work had been falsified. That was denied, but a paper on the supposed breakthrough was withdrawn until Professor Hwang could duplicate his work.

Bird flu is another issue that concerns both doctors and scientists. It is already spreading through migration. Infected birds have been found in Asia and Europe. The big question is when will this deadly flu will make the jump from birds to humans? The fear is a pandemic that will spread as rapidly as a bird flu did in 1918. Between 20 and 50 million people died as a result of that epidemic. So far, there’s no vaccine for this virus.

There was a flap about climate change this year. “Distinguished delegates, you have upheld the trust the people of the world have placed in us. Facing the worst ecological threat to humanity, you have said the world is united and together, step by step, we will win this fight.” Canadian Environment Minister Stephane Dion, speaking at a UN conference on global warming.

More than 150 nations agreed to open talks on mandatory reductions in green house gases. The United States agreed to join an exploratory dialogue on future steps to combat climate change. Some climatologists blamed the intensity and large number of dangerous hurricanes on global warming. Others discredited that idea.  But no one could deny the obvious stated by Conrad Lautenbacher from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: “This was a record-breaking season for the Atlantic.”

There were 28 named tropical storms, 13 hurricanes including three category fives. It was possibly the most destructive hurricane season recorded. Space Shuttle Discovery roared off into space in July, ending a two-and-a-half year wait for the historic return to flight mission. All space shuttle flights had been canceled after the shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it returned to Earth in 2003. In other news about space:  U.S. astronomers say they have discovered a tenth planet far beyond Pluto in the outlying region of the solar system.

史纳比在去年八月汉城新闻发布会上首次亮相。尽管其他动物已经被成功克隆，克隆狗却仍然比较困难。因为狗携带有数种可能感染主人的疾病，所以科学家们希望通过对狗的基因的研究，增进狗和其主人的健康。美国细胞生物学家杰拉德·夏腾在这个实验中与黄禹锡教授一起工作。他说：“如果我们最好的朋友是干细胞药物的第一个受益人，这是多棒的事情啊！而且通过研究这种药物在我们的同事身上是否安全有效，我们就可以知道它在我们深爱的人的身上是否也是安全有效的。”

黄教授在研究中创造了史纳比，他还宣称他能够从单独的患者身上通过克隆制造出干细胞，这离再生损坏和残缺的人体器官更近了一步。但是，年未时，有指责说其中的一些成果是伪造的。尽管指责被否认了，但是研究突破的论文要等到黄教授能重复他的研究后，才能发表。

禽流感是医生和科学家们关注的另一个话题。它已经通过鸟类的迁徙传染开来。欧洲和亚洲都发现了被感染的鸟类。问题在于这种致命的流感什么时候会突然感染人类？1918年禽流感爆发造成了人们的极度恐慌，那场瘟疫使2000万到5000人丧命。到目前为止，还没有预防禽流感的疫苗。

关于今年的气候变化，有人演讲说：“尊贵的代表，你拥有全世界人民对你的信任。面对生态对人们的威胁，你说我们会团结在一起，一步一步，我们会赢得胜利。”这是加拿大环境大臣斯蒂芬妮·狄翁在联合国全球变暖会议上的讲话。

150多个国家同意公开强制性的减少温室气体的排放。美国同意加入为对抗未来气候变化做准备的尝试性的对话。有些气候学家飓风的强度和危险性的增加归因于地球变暖。美国国家大气海洋局的康拉德·劳滕巴赫尔说：“对大西洋来说，这是一个破记录的季节。”尽管有些人不同意，但是没有人反对这个说法。

2005年一共有28个已经命名的热带风暴，13个包括三种类型的五个飓风。这可能是有记录以来台风灾害最严重的一年。7月，航天飞机发射成功，结束了这场历史性飞行前2年半的等待。2003年哥伦比亚号航天飞机返回地球时解体，所有的航天飞行任务都被取消。还有一则关于太空的新闻：美国天文学家宣布，他们已经在太阳系偏远地区，比冥王星更远的地方发现了第十大行星。