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Nature Medicine’s year in review

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In keeping with the journal’s annual tradition, the December issue of Nature Medicine takes a look back at the key developments in biomedicine during 2009.

Yearbook 2009 p1348

Behind the news, there are always the newsmakers. Inspired by the high school yearbook tradition, we have rounded up a few such individuals worthy of notice in 2009. Some stepped into the spotlight eagerly, whereas others operated behind the scenes. Melinda Wenner reports.

Notable advances

Melinda Wenner highlights some of the key papers published in 2009, including topics such as lifespan, T-cell immunity, hepatitis C, HIV, microRNA, Alzheimer’s disease, tuberculosis, cardiology and RNA interference.

Timeline of events provides a brief history of what made news this year, from January, when a woman gave birth to the first baby to have ever been screened before conception for the cancer-causing BRCA1 mutation, to October’s conviction of South Korean stem-cell scientist Woo Suk Hwang for embezzlement and bioethical violations.

2009 by the numbers provides a 360-degree accounting of the ’flu felt around the world.

Drugs in the headlines

This year witnessed both surprising successes and unexpected failures in basic and clinical drug development. There were also mixed results for some newly tested drugs, which will probably prompt a careful reassessment of their therapeutic value. Nature Medicine s drug watch compilation, by Victoria Aranda, summarizes the most talked about therapies of the year.

In case you missed it

A look at stories that fell under the radar in 2009.

Nature Medicine’s year in review

Nature Medicine website.

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