The Year in Biology - A Look Ahead at 2009

I'm melting, melting. Ohhhhh,
what a world, what a world.
2009 is shaping up to be a big but bumpy year in science. President-elect Obama has pledged to give science a more prominent and respected place in his administration, but the economic crisis is sure to lead to lots of cuts and painful decisions in government and foundation funding of scientific research.

Regardless of funding, no one puts science in a corner altogether, especially when the world is faced with issues that simply won’t go away, like climate change, epidemics and pandemics, shrinking food and water resources, and the promises and perils of genetic engineering. Last month, Science magazine published a special issue highlighting the breakthroughs of 2008 that also included predictions for 2009. Here are a few of Science’s picks for biologic stories to watch out for this year:

Plant genomics. Genomes of major grain and fruit crops and biofuel plants should be completed and/or published this year. As always, these advances will be touted as having the potential to feed the hungry and solve the energy crisis. Neither of those is likely to actually happen in 2009, but we might well take a few small steps towards healthier, cheaper, more widely available foodstuffs.

Ocean acidification. Everyone knows that carbon dioxide levels in the air are rising, and have been for some time. Fewer people know or care that the oceans absorb a great deal of that CO2. On the one hand, that’s been a swell chemical reaction, because it has helped moderate atmospheric levels of the gas. On the other hand, it’s unfortunate for sea creatures, because it lowers the pH of seawater. Expect more research results and publicity this year on the consequences of acidification, which include interference with the ability of corals and plankton to secrete hard parts, die-offs of fish and shellfish larvae, and disruption of marine food chains. Science is skeptical that the public will care about the plight of microscopic plants who don’t have big sad eyes. Yeah, me too.

Global Climate Treaty, The Sequel. An international summit on climate in Copenhagen will try to establish a binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The cooperation of the world’s biggest emitter, the United States, will be crucial, as will that of the developing world. This agreement will replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Considering how well that worked, what could go wrong? Right?