If there’s any lesson to learn from biomedicine from the past year, it’s to expect the unexpected. Who would have thought a year ago that the patents on the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, held by Myriad Genetics, would be overturned by a US federal court? Or that a federal judge would temporarily upend President Barack Obama’s executive order allowing funding for research involving human embryonic stem cells?

Likewise, 2010 saw a shake-up for the genetic testing industry after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Government Accountability Office voiced concerns about the direct-to-consumer spit kits. Meanwhile, some individuals claiming to cure patients with stem cell treatments also drew the ire of regulatory agencies. In August, the FDA tried to crack down on Colorado-based Regenerative Sciences, while in the UK, Robert Trossel lost his doctor’s license after treating multiple sclerosis sufferers with stem cell injections.

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