Selected 2009: Scientific American's top ten

Leadership in applying the conclusions of science and technology requires imagination and spirit, not just engineering talent. This year, Scientific American pays tribute to the vision and achievements of those few who stood out in their field, especially in the past year.

The ethical issues arising from the application of science and technology in the service of man, and the politics determined by this, are no less important than the act of invention itself. For example, providing antiretroviral therapy to AIDS patients in sub-Saharan Africa, ensuring that the world's largest chipmaker is doing its best to reduce its environmental footprint, and donating your reputation (and quite a bit of cash) to a global campaign to eradicate smoking.

Leadership in these areas requires imagination and spirit, not just engineering talent. This year, Scientific American pays tribute to the vision and achievements of those few who stood out in their field, especially in the past year. The ten chosen ones showed that in order to run a program in the field of public health or run a green business, more than just organizational efficiency and good public relations is needed. To make the vision a reality in the field of health and the environment, the obstacles set by the establishment and the unbearable bureaucracy that thwarts the adoption of new technologies and even innovative methods and procedures must be overcome.
One of the chosen ones helped design a baby incubator made of car parts that could be easily repaired in the rural areas of third world countries. Another concluded that an innovative infrastructure for charging and swapping large batteries in cars could help overcome the technological hurdles that have prevented the commercial development of electric cars. We also paid tribute to the pure technological creativity that led to the use of some single skin cells, from the arm for example, and making them equivalent to embryonic stem cells.

The combination of leadership and inventiveness, which characterizes the Scientific American 2009 nominees, should serve as an example for us in the way we can deal with problems that seem insoluble to us, in areas such as dwindling resources, inadequate medical care and the difficult situation of the education system.

Scientific American system

Todd Brady
Corporate Director of Environmental Affairs
Intel, Santa Clara, CA
A chip manufacturing company prioritizes its environmental footprint
A technology company like Intel, with a turnover of billions of dollars, could have chosen all kinds of ways to be greener. It could have built factories that were more energy efficient or removed toxic chemicals from its products. She could have reduced her greenhouse gas emissions or recycled her waste. She could have bought alternative energy credits or wind turbines. Or with the help of a passionate corporate executive like Todd Brady, she can do all of these together.

Brady, who has been employed by Intel since 1995, has helped the company earn its reputation as a global environmental leader. He played an important role in the development of Intel's first green building, which should open this year, and receive the prestigious LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) certificate. In the development center built in Haifa, excess heat emitted from computers in the data center will be recycled to heat the building. Three quarters of the inhabited area of ​​the building will be illuminated exclusively by the sunlight that will enter through large windows.

Brady also led the company's bold decision to reduce its energy consumption by 4%, and its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2010. Since 2001, Intel has saved more than 500 million kilowatt-hours: electricity that can power more than 50,000 Bat Yam.

Intel also saved 34 billion liters of drinking water, reduced its climate footprint by taking 50,000 vehicles off the road and stopped using lead and halogens in its processors. Also, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in 2008 that Intel was the largest corporate customer in the US to purchase alternative energy through credits, again thanks to Brady's leadership.

By Melinda Wenner

Shay Agassi
Founder and CEO
Better Place, Palo Alto, CA
A wonderful charging scheme in its simplicity can ensure the future of electric vehicles
Electric vehicles simply haven't been able to fit into today's impatient economic system. It is true that the Tesla Roadster model is a nimble and fashionable vehicle, but its high price and a charging time of about three hours eroded its appeal. On the other hand, the Chevy Volt is a cheaper car, but it bursts into life after only 60 kilometers of driving. Shay Agassi, a rookie in the automotive industry, believes that a more comprehensive vision is needed to reach a future without oil. Agassi, formerly a manager in the software field, is currently busy with the orderly construction of a new infrastructure for electric vehicles: the charging network powered by solar and wind energy. Drivers will be able to buy miles of travel as part of a subscription plan, then replace the empty batteries with full ones at exchange stations that will be located in accessible places. In California, for example, such "exchange stations", which will be placed along the main roads at a distance of 45 kilometers from each other, will be able to fulfill the needs of drivers throughout the country. Those who just go to work, shopping or just for a short trip, will be able to connect to a charging point with a meter. The operating system on the car's computer will be able to help drivers decide between the different charging options according to their destination and the life time of the battery.

Agassi's start-up company, Better Place, launched an experiment in Israel last year, because the tax benefits taken here could stimulate interest in the project and support the plan to enter the market in 2011. Venture capital funds allocated 200 million dollars to the business. Denmark, Australia, Ontario, Hawaii and California have also launched plans for charging networks. The Renault-Nissan car company will supply the electric vehicles for the program. Finally, Agassi estimates, lithium-ion batteries will increase the driving range, and setting standards for battery dimensions will allow the same network to serve different vehicle models. Agassi's system, which combines technology, policy and useful service stations for drivers, will be able to turn electric vehicles from a dream into a reality.

by Sally Lerman

And Fa' al-Sadr
Director
Division of Infectious Diseases, Harlem Medical Center, New York
A female doctor is at the forefront of a public health campaign fighting AIDSAbout a third of all AIDS patients, an extremely alarming rate, suffer from tuberculosis which leads to the death of half of the patients with both diseases. And Faa' al-Sadr took it upon herself to lead an advertising campaign aimed at bringing about a decrease in these rates. Al-Sadr, director of Columbia University's International Center for AIDS Care Programs (ICAP), recently initiated a partnership between ICAP and nearly 400 health institutions in sub-Saharan Africa in an effort to curb the AIDS/TB crisis. Starting in December 2008, these institutions in Africa tested 106,000 AIDS patients and carriers with the aim of finding out if they were also infected with TB, and developed an integrated strategy to treat TB and prevent the infection of others.
The doctor, born in Egypt, focused on all the different characteristics of the AIDS epidemic, and was awarded, for her work, the prestigious MacArthur scholarship in 2008. After joining the Harlem Medical Center team in 1998 as director of the infectious diseases department, she led a pioneering program for family care for AIDS patients and carriers, and today this program is implemented worldwide. She also spearheaded an initiative to reduce the risk of a child being infected by its mother, thus helping thousands of women in eight countries.

Al-Sadr is engaged in research that will ultimately guide doctors in providing the most effective treatment to AIDS patients and carriers. From 2001 to 2006 she served as one of the chairmen of one of the largest AIDS research projects ever known as SMART (Management Strategies in Antiretroviral Therapy). One of the main conclusions of the project was that the life expectancy of AIDS patients and carriers is extended and that their health improves if they persist in receiving the antiretroviral treatment throughout their lives. Today, Al-Sadr is working to make sure that such continuous treatment will indeed be provided: since 2008, ICAP has supported one-tenth of the AIDS patients and carriers who are being treated against the disease in sub-Saharan Africa.

By Melinda Wenner

Robert J. Linhart
Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
A chemist-detective finds a solution to the mystery of death from a contaminated drug
In January 2008, people in the US began to die as a result of taking contaminated heparin. Heparin is a drug based on a complex carbohydrate, which has been used since the 30s as a central component in anticoagulant drugs. The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) therefore asked Robert J. Linhart, a chemist from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, to identify the cause of the deaths. Linhart was able not only to find the polluting substance, but also to devise a solution that could prevent such frightening incidents in the future.
The root of the problem lies in the growing demand for anticoagulants: the US medical system consumes 300,000 doses of heparin per day to prevent the formation of blood clots during surgeries, such as bypass surgery, and kidney dialysis. Pharmaceutical companies in the US mostly purchase heparin that is isolated from the intestines of pigs raised on American farms. But the demand for the compound in the US exceeds the supply and the drug manufacturers are also forced to import it.

When patients began to suffer complications from the use of heparin in early 2008, the FDA pointed an accusing finger towards products imported from the Chinese company Changzhou SPL. At this point, the FDA, together with the American company that marketed the contaminated product of the Changzhou company, contacted Linhart with a request for assistance. Within a few weeks of painstaking work, Linhart and his colleagues separated the product into its components, and identified the source of the problem: the substance chondroitin sulfate with excess sulfur groups (OSCS), a compound often used to treat osteoarthritis. It seems that this compound was added to heparin as a cheap inactive ingredient to "fill volume", but this ultimately resulted in the death of 81 Americans as a result of inflammation and sharp drops in blood pressure.

But Linhart was not satisfied with discovering the cause of the patients' deaths. He also wanted to find a solution. In August 2008, he and his colleagues already announced that they had succeeded in synthesizing a dose of pure heparin a million times greater than any dose produced in the laboratory before. Their secret is using E. coli bacteria to produce the compound. Although there is still a long way to go before the synthetic compound reaches hospital shelves, Linhart's research is a giant step towards a future where the heparin compound will continue to save lives and never kill again.

By Melinda Wenner

Eugene Scott
CEO
US National Center for Science Education, Oakland, CA
A champion in the teaching of evolution shifts gears
Biologist Thomas Henry Huxley was known in the 19th century as "Darwin's Bulldog" due to the struggles he waged to defend the great scientist's ideas. Even in the 21st century, there are those who take care of strengthening the status of these ideas, and she calls herself "Darwin's Golden Retriever". Eugene Scott, executive director of the American Center for Science Education (NCSE), stands out as one of the prominent supporters of keeping the theory of evolution as an integral part of the curriculum in US public schools. Scott was appointed executive director of the NCSE, which is a non-profit organization, in 1986, a year before the US Supreme Court ruled in the Edwards v. Aguilar case that creationism should not be taught in public schools.
Scott worked as a physical anthropologist at the University of Kentucky in 1980, and became interested in the field known as "creationism", which tries to combine biology, geology and other sciences with a literal interpretation of the Bible. She headed a public movement in Lexington whose goal was to prevent the teaching of creationism in the city's public schools.

In 2005, she volunteered as a consultant in the important legal hearing in the Kitzmiller v. Dover case, in which Judge John Jones ruled that "intelligent design" is a form of creationism, and therefore teaching it in public schools is unconstitutional.

Last year, Scott and the Center for Science Education waged an uphill battle against Florida's "Academic Freedom Act," which allows teachers to teach why the theory of evolution is "controversial." Indeed, it seems that this year legislation in this spirit is running into difficulties in Florida.

In March 2009, the Texas State Board of Education voted against the requirement to include in the curriculum a discussion of the "successes and difficulties" of the theory of evolution, a requirement that arose from a campaign to encourage creationism that had a different title. But instead of solving the problem, the committee voted in favor of adding wording that calls on students to "analyze and evaluate" Darwin's theory, despite the request of the NCSE organization, in which it was stated that the different wording only covers the same intention - to criticize the theory of evolution. In the face of the linguistic maneuvers of the opponents of the theory of evolution, Darwin's golden retriever will have many more opportunities to serve as the loyal defender of the teaching of evolution in US schools.

By Kate Wilcox

bill Gates
Chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Michael Bloomberg
Mayor of New York
Celebrities join the smoking ban
What is more deadly than malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis together? What kills more people a year than any other cause? What is spreading at a frightening speed, especially in third world countries? Smoking tobacco, of course. Bill Gates, one of the founders of Microsoft, teamed up with Michael Bloomberg, a politician and media darling, to declare war on this mass murderer. Together they launched a $375 million global campaign to stop smoking.

The partnership between the two is based on an international grant program in the amount of 125 million dollars, which Bloomberg inaugurated in 2006, to encourage the establishment of policies such as banning smoking in public places, banning the advertising of tobacco products, increasing taxes on tobacco and preventing smuggling. The new contribution of the two tycoons ($250 million from Bloomberg and 125 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) will be directed to financing awareness campaigns about the harms of smoking among children and adults, for protection from second-hand smoke and assistance in quitting. As part of the initiative, tax and health officials will also be trained in determining effective procedures in the field and global smoking data will be monitored in order to examine prevention strategies. The World Health Organization (WHO), the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDO) and the World Lung Foundation are also members of the initiative. Although the emphasis in the plan will be placed on Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia and Russia, enthusiastic tobacco consumers, Gates also hopes to prevent the development of consumption in Africa, where the situation is not yet particularly severe.

Bloomberg, a former smoker, earned a reputation as a smoke-warrior during his two terms as mayor of New York City. On the other hand, at the Gates Foundation, which is better known for its involvement in the fight against infectious diseases, the fight against smoking is a new matter. Poor or middle-income countries currently spend only $20 million on smoking prevention, but collect $66 billion through tobacco taxes. Through an infusion of funds and a well-planned initiative, Bloomberg and Gates may reshape the political landscape and bring about the policy making needed to wean the world off smoking.

by Sally Lerman

Brian Wilson
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Colorado State University
An engineer promotes the uptake of clean energy technologies in third world countries
About half of the world's population cooks their food in ovens that are inefficient and consume a lot of fuel. These stoves emit toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and benzene into the air, which poison 1.6 million people to death every year. Careful planning, a simple evaporator and an insulated chamber are all it takes for Brian Wilson's research group at Colorado State University's Motors and Energy Conversion Laboratory to solve the problem. Now families in India and the Philippines will be able to purchase for only 10 to 40 dollars a nice oven that reduces gas emissions by 80%, burns less fuel and even heats food faster.

Two-stroke engines of the type used by tens of millions of rickshaw taxis in Africa, India and the Philippines also pollute the air with a deadly mixture. Wilson's students created a bolt-on kit that converts these engines from vaporizers to fuel-injected engines. This makes it possible to reduce the exhaust emissions of the rickshaws at a rate equal to the pollution emitted by 50 modern cars. Envirofit, a non-profit company born out of Wilson's lab, sells the conversion kits in the Philippines for about $200. There is no doubt that this is a huge investment for a taxi driver, but it is doable thanks to a loan program, which is accompanied by a significant 35% decrease in fuel consumption.
Wilson, a mechanical engineer, turned his cramped laboratory in Fort Collins into an incubator for green energy inventions. But his innovation does not end here: he helps his students and colleagues apply their expertise in ventures in developing economies, thus bringing the technological solutions to those who need them the most.

by Sally Lerman

Christian Olson
program manager
The Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technologies, Boston
Simple and cheap ventilators and incubators will help save the lives of newborns in developing countries
A few years ago, Christian Olson's wife gave birth to triplets in a difficult birth. The 38-year-old pediatrician, who also specializes in internal medicine, realized that if his wife had given birth in one of the many places where he spends a lot of his time, the babies would not have survived. This recognition made Olson an even more enthusiastic leader of implementing simple and cheap technologies that would allow newborns to survive even without needing sophisticated and modern medical centers.

One of his colleagues told the "Boston Globe" newspaper, that Olson is the expert in the Ha-Kheedin regarding life-saving technologies in the third world. Last year, Olson and the Center for Integrating Medicine and Innovative Technologies (CIMIT)—a nonprofit consortium of Boston University Hospitals and Engineering Schools—continued their plan to demonstrate the effectiveness of ventilators that cost just $7. It is actually a tube through which a medical professional blows into the newborn's mouth. The program was launched after the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in 2004. Since then, about 500 midwives in the province of Aceh in Indonesia have learned to use the technology.

Another project that Olsson continues to lead as part of CIMIT's global health initiative is the development of an incubator made up of car parts. The simple idea, conceived by a former manager at CIMIT, is based on the fact that while the expertise and spare parts needed to repair medical equipment are not available in rural hospitals, car repair is commonplace. Olson headed the team that built the prototypes of the incubator and proved that it is indeed possible to solve the problems of people in poverty-stricken countries with unconventional solutions.

By Gary Stix

Andres Nagy
senior researcher
Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto
A biologist discovers an effective method for producing stem cells from adult cells
It is true that today the green light has already been given for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, but the change in policy in no way diminishes the value of the arduous and creative work of the researchers who have developed alternatives to this in recent years. Among the most successful researchers is Anders Nagy, a biologist from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, who developed an innovative method for turning adult cells into cells that function as embryonic stem cells.

Nagy's research yielded, apparently, the most effective method today. In 2006, two laboratories, unrelated to each other, succeeded in turning skin cells into pluripotent stem cells, that is, those that can turn into different types of cells, by activating four genes. The problem was that in some cases the viruses with which the active genes were inserted turned the cells into cancer. In 2008, Japanese scientists announced that they had succeeded in eliminating the need for viruses, but the solution they proposed was not effective at all: they were only able to turn 29 out of a million cells, at best, into stem cells.

In February 2009, Nagy announced that he had a better solution. He and his colleagues inserted the four genes needed into mouse and human cells using a genetic sequence known as a transposon, which can efficiently integrate into the cell's DNA. Moreover, the genes inserted into the DNA with the help of a transposon can then be removed using an enzyme known as transposase, so that they will not cause cancer or other unwanted effects down the road.

After Nagy added the four necessary genes, many of the mature cells became stem cells, and after 20 days the researchers were able to identify 48 colonies of stem cells. The cells continued to be pluripotent even after removing the genes added to them. In fact, Nagy and his colleagues succeeded for the first time in producing the equivalent of embryonic stem cells without any ethical problem, safely and efficiently. This is an important step that will allow these cells to be used to treat patients in the future.

By Melinda Wenner

Barack Obama
President of the United States
The new president began his term with a radical change in US science policy
After eight long years in "exile", US scientists were happily invited to the White House again. In the first months of his term as president, Barack Obama rushed to place science at the center of the policy-making processes regarding climate change, energy, health and research budgeting. He overturned the anti-science policy, appointing prominent scientists to key positions, including physicists Stephen Chu and John Holdren, marine ecologist Jane Lobchenko, and biomedical experts Harold Varmus and Eric Lander.
In March 2009, President Obama lifted the embargo on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, and asked the US Institutes of Health (NIH) to draft new laws on the subject. He called for listening to scientists, "especially when it's uncomfortable," and ordered the creation of a new policy that would protect scientific integrity and ensure transparency in policy-making.

That month, the members of the International Committee on Climate Change in Bonn, Germany, cheered Todd Stern, Obama's special envoy for climate affairs, who called on the US to "make up for wasted time," and act urgently in a practical and scientific manner. Indeed, in his budget proposal, the president allocated 150 billion dollars to finance research, development and clean energy technologies in the next ten years, and an additional 43 billion dollars for infrastructure and research. And this is in addition to the 20 billion dollars in tax breaks already included in his economic stimulus plan.

When we decided to include the president on this list, we looked for less likely candidates who deserve wider public recognition than they receive. But President Obama's achievements in just a few weeks since taking office were so extraordinary that we could not ignore them. The actions of the new president seemed almost too far-reaching after the Bush administration, which received many criticisms for suppressing science as a routine act, in favor of his political needs. But we predict that Barack Obama's influence will be much wider than this simple comparison. The new president's unprecedented emphasis on science and technology will give a boost to pure science and innovation and restore to the US its scientific and technological advantage for generations.

By: Sally Lerman