In our 24/7 news cycle, it’s easy to forget that just because something isn’t front and center in the media doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. As it turns out, things are being discovered and developed all the time, it can just be a bit hard to hear about.
Someone asked “Scientists, what's a discovery that should have blown people's minds but somehow got a collective shrug from the world?” and people shared their best examples. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to add your own ideas below.
#1
We basically “cured” most people of cystic fibrosis in the last five years. It is the most miraculous medical breakthrough I can think of, comparable only to insulin treatment for diabetics or the triple cocktail for HIV patients in the 90s. In the span of five years, thousands of cystic fibrosis patients saw their projected lifespans go up to normal. The treatments don’t work on every CF mutation, but they are incredible. The Atlantic published an article last year that made me sob.
Image credits: throwaway-94552
#2
I grew up in the midst of the AIDS crisis. It was twice as scary as covid and ten times as devastating. The fact that they essentially found a cure and AIDS/HIV is no longer a physical or social death sentence is overwhelming in the best way and the fact that it's rarely talked about is overwhelming in the worst way.
cpersin24:
I'm a microbiologist and every time I taught the HIV/AIDS section i was still amazed at how fast we went from knowing nothing about this disease to today where we are testing vaccines and have treatments that keep infected pregnant patients from passing HIV to their babies or keep infected people from passing it to their partners. And we can allow infected people to live out their natural life. I agree it's amazing how this went from devastating to almost a non-issue in less than two generations.
Image credits: the_owl_syndicate
#3
Don't know if it's been mentioned, but if you grew up in the 70s you heard a LOT about stomach ulcers k**ling people...it was blamed on stress, but one scientist figured out it was a bacteria and tested it on himself.
That guy needs a statue.
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#4
Honestly, mapping the human genome was assumed to be impossible for decades until it was done in a few short years without the fanfare it deserved. An absolutely mind-blowing accomplishment.
Pabu85:
I’m alive because of genetic testing we were only able to do because of that discovery. I’m thankful every day.
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#5
I’m not sure shrug is the right word but mRNA vaccines are a miracle.
GoofinOffAtWork:
Yes they really frickin are.
I'm just an average guy, not a scientist or dr, but this technology, just wow. A huge game changer.
Regrettably, half of society thinks vaccines are bad.
Heavy heavy sigh.
Image credits: kwixta
#6
My girlfriend has hashimoto and her thyroid is basically non-existent anymore. She only has to take one small pill in the morning to live a normal life instead of being dead by now. Millions of people in this world take one small pill each day and are able to live with a disease that would have been deadly back in the day.
Edit: I just wanted to clarify that there is no cure for Hashimoto and my partner is simply taking Levothyroxine to compensate for the thyroid. I am very sorry if I gave some people false hopes with my original comment.
Image credits: Buchlinger
#7
I read recently where South Koreas scientists found a way to revert a colon cancer cell to an almost normal cell which would eliminate the need for chemo. Early stages but wow, why aren’t we all over the moon and helping research?
Image credits: Pelagic_One
#8
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. Historically stem cell research used cells derived from embryonic sources. That raises tons of ethical debates. In addition, I believe it can cause issues with the body rejecting cells if they come from someone other than the transplant recipient.
Scientists then discovered that you could take ordinary skin cells from a person and expose the cells to certain transcription factors which effectively reprogram them into stem cells. From there the cells can be differentiated into specific cell types like cardiac cells, neurons, etc. An example usage would be to take a Parkinson’s patient who has lost 95% of the cells of the neuronal pathway involved in motor activity and other things, harvest their skin cells, convert them to stems cells, differentiate them into neurons and transplant them into the brain thereby recovering some of the deficits. It’s unbelievably fascinating stuff and blew my mind when I first learned about it. I don’t think they’ve even scratched the surface of its potential. Especially when you combine it with CRISPR to modify the genetics so you can potentially cure/treat all sorts of diseases.
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#9
Cereal fortification in the 1990s. It has saved so many babies from spinal deformities. It is my favorite study + outcome.
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#10
"Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty" (2012) by economists Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson.
Basically, these two men proved a causational relation between a country having well-funded institutions and country wealth. As in: they proved that strong and fair institutions CAUSE nation wealth. As in: having good institutions is the best indicator of future wealth (on national level).
While their book has been quite successful and their research won the 2024 nobel prize of economics, politics worldwide remain unchanged. Their research, which should singlehandedly disprove economical libertarianism and destroy the idea of preferring a "small government", has done little to stop the resurgence of these policies in recent times.
Image credits: Assclownn
#11
I'm no scientist but I feel like the micro plastics in all our testicles and beyond the brain barrier was a shockingly non reaction.
Image credits: ComfortablyNomNom
#12
Not as crazy as other ones, but… as a type 1 diabetic I find it crazy that they can just make insulin hahaha. You’re telling me my organs can’t but somebody in a lab can just find the formula? Hahahaha.
Image credits: DiabeticDino45
#13
The doctors in London who proved cholera was bacteria in water- it wasn't the result of odours or bad smells as it were. Just by mapping where the cases were in relation to which street water pumps. Populace angry with them as one of the wells had the 'nicest' water.
Removed the pump handles. Cases went down then disappeared.
Until then cholera and many diseases ('malaria- mal means bad so bad air) thought to be the cause of air borne smells. Of course a few like TB are droplet carried.
Image credits: Firstpoet
#14
Not a scientist but it blows my mind we casually walk around with devices that can show us where we are within a few feet anywhere on earth. And how to get to anywhere else. GPS, led screens, lithium batteries and CPUs. Sometimes it’s the combination that creates something mind blowing.
Image credits: Sir_mjon
#15
I'm not a scientist, but I saw where scientists in Japan have found a way to grow teeth, which would eliminate the need for implants. In the not to distant future, you might see adults walking around with baby teeth.
Image credits: sQQirrell
#16
Published in late 2024 was a study showing that silicates played a catalytic role in the formation of amino-acids and proto-cells, taking a huge step in validating abiogenesis as the origin of life.
Basically, they redid the Miller-Urey experiment (which already showed simple organic compounds could emerge from inorganic compounds in conditions similar to early Earth), with a difference : in order to avoid external interferences, they coated the container with teflon and put it in a dark room.
What happened was...nothing. No reaction occured, no new compound were formed, contrary to the original experiment. Since the container in the original experiment was glass, they decided to add a few silicate pellets in their container and redo the experiment.
The results were even better than expected :
- they obtained fully formed amino-acids, not just simple organic compounds.
- among these amino-acids were the five that make up DNA and RNA.
- fully closed phospholipid chains, aka empty proto-cells, were observed.
Image credits: Big_Wishbone3907
#17
In the last couple of years they discovered an algae that had non-lethally absorbed a bacteria that produced nitrogen. It’s the birth of a whole new form of metabolism. The sprouting of a new trunk on the tree of life.
There are only 3 other known cases of an event like this in the history of life. And yet I barely heard anything about it.
The Japanese plastic eating bacteria got more coverage, but still not nearly enough.
Image credits: Klatterbyne
#18
Back in 2016, when the results of the CTE brain analysis on former football players went up in JAMA and showed just how extensive and common these injuries are, it should have caused an uproar. And people were aware of it, to be sure, but it seems like most have chosen to just ignore it and assume it's someone else's problem, along with hollow justifications like "they knew what they were getting into" and "they get compensated well enough for that risk.".
Image credits: sdwoodchuck
#19
It seems relevant to this thread to inform everyone that in 1994, the invention of the year went to the widget in a can of Guinness that help carbonate a Guinness only when you opened it.
Second place was The Internet.
Sometimes the world doesn’t care because they don’t really understand.
Image credits: Myburgher
#20
GLP-1s. It's nothing short of revolutionary. Not only does it stabilize blood sugar in diabetics, and promotes weightloss for obese people who have no luck with other treatments. It also curbs addictions to alcohol, smoking, even shopping. It has been shown to be protective for cardiovascular health, used for kidney failure. It's a treatment for certain liver diseases. And that's just what we have confirmed so far. In my book GLP-1s are right up there with penicillin and pasteurization.
Image credits: MexicanVanilla22
#21
30 years ago, Japan developed a replacement for Saran Wrap or shrink wrap that was actually more durable and biodegradable. It failed test markers in America because 1) it was made out of shrimp shells 2) it had a pink hue 3) false belief that shellfish allergies would cause people to become sick 4) the packaging had shrimp 🦐 yes with the heads.
Image credits: MauiValleyGirl
#22
Prion disease.
People don't really understand it and so they shrug it off to the point that I have seen people giving away deer meat that was chronic wasting disease positive and someone picked that meat up to consume. Then, I was banned from the group for freaking out about it.
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