2016 : WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST INTERESTING RECENT [SCIENTIFIC] NEWS? WHAT MAKES IT IMPORTANT?

In a great year for science it is hard to restrict applause to just one area, but a worthy one is cancer research, which has seen a number of advances. Genetic manipulation has rapidly reversed colorectal cancer in mice, a Dutch team has developed a highly accurate blood test for cancer, a general cure for cancer is promised by the discovery that attaching malaria proteins to cancerous cells destroys them, the Mayo Clinic has found a way of short-circuiting cancer cell growth by using a certain junction protein (PLEKHA7), early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer looks more possible following the identification of a protein on particles released by cancer cells in the pancreas,  low-toxicity nano-pills for treatment of breast cancer look to be on the way, and the FDA has approved Palbociclid for breast cancer treatment. There may have been other announcements in the oncology field this year, but the cumulative effect of these developments would appear to support the claim made by a leading oncologist that within a generation no one under the age of eighty will die of cancer.