The number one scientific breakthrough for 2020: multiple vaccines to prevent COVID-19. Philippe Raimbault/Photodisc via Getty Images

The top scientific breakthrough for 2020 was understanding SARS‑CoV‑2 and how it causes COVID‑19 – and then developing multiple vaccines

The development of multiple vaccines against the virus that causes COVID-19 has been hailed as the breakthrough of 2020. But there were many more supporting discoveries that made this possible.
These bacteria are resistant to antibiotics. Melissa Brower/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP

An ambitious plan to stop the rise of superbugs

Many articles describe the rise of superbugs - bacteria that are resistant to antibiotic drugs - as inevitable. But society has the knowledge to stop the spread of these microbes.
These are viruses called bacteriophages that infect only bacterial cells. Ewa Parylak/shutterstock.com

Are viruses the best weapon for fighting superbugs?

Bacteria are becoming resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics. These expensive, hard-to-treat infections are prompting physicians to reassess using viruses to destroy bacteria.
Every surface of our body – inside and out – is covered in microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, fungi and many other microscopic life forms. vrx/Shutterstock.com

Meet the trillions of viruses that make up your virome

Just because you don’t have the flu doesn’t mean that your aren’t teeming with viruses inside and out. But what are all these viruses doing, if they aren’t making you sick?

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