Key scientific innovations & misses of 2022

During the active phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, the focus of scientific research globally was on finding new vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics and management to address the challenge the novel coronavirus posed to the world. The interest in pandemic-related research continued in 2022 as well, but several other significant scientific developments made headlines in the past 12 months.

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Discovery of the biggest single-cell bacteria, recreation of the ancient ecosystem from the two million-year-old environmental DNA recovered from frozen depths in Greenland, unveiling of highly disruptive AI tools and a new malaria vaccine were among the top scientific advancements of this year. In India, the development of an intra-nasal vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 was a key advancement. However, in the field of environmental conservation, the going is not good as more Indian plant and animal species were added to the list of those under threat.

Among the topmost scientific breakthroughs was the final deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope, which has provided an unprecedented glimpse of our universe using its infrared eye. The space telescope has captured the light emitted by the very first stars and galaxies, and scientists hope to decipher the atmosphere of exoplanets located hundreds of light-years away from the earth.

Among other top scientific advancements of this year are — the discovery of the biggest single-cell bacteria (almost a centimetre long), recreation of the ancient ecosystem from the two million-year-old environmental DNA recovered from frozen depths in Greenland, identification of a virus linked with multiple sclerosis, unveiling of some highly disruptive artificial intelligence (AI) tools like Dall-E and ChatGPT, development of novel immunotherapy to cure colorectal cancer, a new malaria vaccine and an embryo grown in a laboratory without the use of a sperm, an egg or a womb.

In India, the development of an intra-nasal vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 was a key advancement. The vaccine, developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, is said to be the first such vaccine in the world. It can be delivered through the nasal route and does not require any needle.

The second headline-grabbing development this year also came from Hyderabad — the first privately developed rocket which was launched from the spaceport at Sriharikota. Developed by Skyroot Aerospace, the rocket engine was 3D printed and the new technologies tested during the demonstrator flight will be used in operational rockets in future.

A Chennai-based startup, AgniKul, unveiled India’s first private rocket-launching facility and control room on the campus of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. These developments are indicative of the rapid growth of private players in the field of space technology.

In October, the government approved open-field trials of a genetically modified mustard variety — Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11. It will pave the way for the commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) mustard in future, making it the first GM food crop in India. The decision has rekindled the debate about the need for GM food crops among scientists and civil society groups.

In the field of environmental conservation, the going is not good as more Indian plant and animal species were added to the list of those under threat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature recently placed the white-cheeked dancing frog, Andaman smoothhound shark and yellow Himalayan fritillary in its Red List unveiled.

While space-related developments, Covid vaccines and GM crops hit headlines, many contributions of Indian scientists went unnoticed. A remarkable study came from geneticists at Banaras Hindu University and other centres, solving the mystery of unidentified human skeletons found at Ajnala in 2014. Ancient DNA extraction studies, combined with historical records, showed that these skeletons found in a deep well belonged to soldiers martyred during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

The shortage of semiconductor chips has affected many industries such as automobile manufacturing. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru, along with an industry partner, have come up with a high-voltage automotive technology platform to design analogue chips for the automotive sector. Another group at the IISc has developed a new analogue chipset named Aryabhat-I (Analog Reconfigurable Technology and Bias-scalable Hardware for AI tasks) for AI applications like speech recognition. Theranautilus, a startup incubated at the IISc, came up with an interesting offering — a nano-sized robot that can dive deep into the dental root canal to kill bacteria.

Statins are among the most popular drugs used to lower cholesterol in patients with high blood cholesterol, but it is also known that these drugs have certain side effects among long-term users. Researchers at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad figured out that statins could induce changes in the architecture of cells, which may lead to side effects.

Another group at the CCMB has identified eight genes that were not known earlier for their role in human male fertility. Scientists also identified mutations in these genes that lead to impaired sperm production — a consequence of which is male infertility.

The Indian institutes of technology (IITs) continued to be a powerhouse of research and innovation during the year. Among the new offerings from IIT-Delhi were a map to highlight rainfall-induced erosion in India, an EEG-based method for the timely detection of epilepsy and a mobile app to monitor waterlogging in urban areas during monsoons.

Research groups at IIT-Guwahati have developed a new method of targeted delivery of drugs to cancer cells, an AI-based model to predict the healing of bone fractures, while scientists from IIT-Madras joined hands with NASA to study microbial data collected from the three missions of the International Space Station to find how microbes behave in space.

To tackle the problem of dust accumulation on solar panels (which reduces efficiency), IIT-Jodhpur has found a solution — a transparent, self-cleaning coating that uses a superhydrophobic material.

Scientists from IIT-Roorkee have found certain proteins in saliva that can help predict metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. A biochemical relationship between the fatty liver disease and diabetes, discovered by researchers at IIT-Mandi, can help develop techniques to diagnose the risk of diabetes among those with fatty liver disease. The institute also has developed a wearable device that makes use of near-infrared spectroscopy to detect an ischemic stroke.

India has a robust science, technology and innovation ecosystem encompassing national laboratories, IITs, universities, agencies like space and atomic energy, and institutions in non-government sectors. They need to be well-funded and nurtured so that they can help the nation address challenges in critical areas like health, agriculture, energy, water systems, environment and climate change.