Each year, the journal Science selects the most groundbreaking discoveries for its annual Breakthrough of the Year distinction. It is interesting, and encouraging, to see how closely the work of our researchers here at UNC align with the top choices for last year’s advancements in scientific discovery.
An evocative image of a black hole, generated by an international team of radio astronomers, revealing “a dark heart surrounded by a ring of light created by photons zipping around it,” was selected as the 2019 Breakthrough of the Year. The image was validation of decades of work surrounding a controversial theory about objects that cannot be seen. Black holes, time travel, and gravitational waves were also topics presented by Nobel laureate and 2019 Frey Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professor Kip Thorne when he visited our campus last February. The Frey Professorship is one of the highest honors bestowed on researchers by the College of Arts & Sciences to distinguished public leaders.
Although the image was the first choice of Science editors, it was the third choice of magazine readers who voted for the “People’s Choice” award. Top pick for readers was the identification of a fossilized jaw from China’s Tibetan Plateau as Denisovan, a mysterious human ancestor who ranged across Asia until some 50,000 years ago, about the same time as the Neanderthals.
The second choice of readers was advances in Ebola virus treatment. Treatments that significantly reduce death rates from the disease continued to make headway in 2019. Here at UNC, the Baric Lab has been involved in testing remdesivir, a new drug developed by Gilead Sciences, Inc. The lab provided evidence that the drug works to treat Ebola by blocking enzymes needed for virus replication. Additionally, William Fischer and David Wohl in the School of Medicine have been studying Ebola survivors in Liberia. They have established a cohort to learn more about treatment of the acute infection. They are also part of an ongoing NIH effort studying remdesivir in men who have evidence of Ebola virus in their semen. It is important to note that the FDA has approved remdesivir only for compassionate use thus far, but the Democratic Republic of Congo has cleared the use of the drug in a current outbreak affecting the country.
The fourth choice of Science readers was the first approval of an effective treatment for most cases of cystic fibrosis (CF). The treatment is a triple-drug combination called Trikafta, which corrects the effects of the most common mutation leading to the lung disease. About 90 percent of CF patients have the common mutation, and this treatment could convert CF from a progressive disease to a manageable chronic illness. UNC’s Cystic Fibrosis Center is one of the leading research and treatment centers in the world. The center is led by Ric Boucher, and it has the single goal of curing CF lung disease. It has also served as an important clinical trial site for Trikafta treatment results.
Researchers have the tools for building knowledge, facilitating learning, and impacting our understanding of nature and the well-being of our universe and our health. It is truly an exciting time for research within our university and across the globe.