Modern Science In the 20th century, scientists achieved spectacular advances in the fields of genetics, medicine, social sciences,

technology, and physics. Genetics At the beginning of the 20th century, the life sciences entered a period of rapid progress. Mendels work in genetics was rediscovered in 1900, and by 1910 biologists had become convinced that genes are located in chromosomes, the threadlike structures that contain proteins and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). During the 1940s American biochemists discovered that DNA taken from one kind of bacterium could influence the characteristics of another. From these experiments, it became clear that DNA is the chemical that makes up genes and thus the key to heredity. After American biochemist James Watson and British biophysicist Francis Crick established the structure of DNA in 1953, geneticists became able to understand heredity in chemical terms. Since then, progress in this field has been astounding. Scientists have identified the complete genome, or genetic catalog, of the human body (see Human Genome Project). In many cases, scientists now know how individual genes become activated and what effects they have in the human body. Genes can now be transferred from one species to another, side-stepping the normal processes of heredity and creating hybrid organisms that are unknown in the natural world. Medicine At the turn of the 20th century, Dutch physician Christiaan Eijkman showed that disease can be caused not only by microorganisms but by a dietary deficiency of certain substances now called vitamins. In 1909 German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich introduced the worlds first bactericide, a chemical designed to kill specific kinds of bacteria without killing the patients cells as well. Following the discovery of penicillin in 1928 by British bacteriologist Sir Alexander Fleming, antibiotics joined medicines chemical armory, making the fight against bacterial infection almost a routine matter. Antibiotics cannot act against viruses, but vaccines have been used to great effect to prevent some of the deadliest viral diseases. Smallpox, once a worldwide killer, was completely eradicated by the late 1970s, and in the United States the number of polio cases dropped from 38,000 in the 1950s to less than 10 a year by the 21st century. By the middle of the 20th century scientists believed they were well on the way to treating, preventing, or eradicating many of the most deadly

infectious diseases that had plagued humankind for centuries. But by the 1980s the medical communitys confidence in its ability to control infectious diseases had been shaken by the emergence of new types of disease-causing microorganisms. New cases of tuberculosis developed, caused by bacteria strains that were resistant to antibiotics. New, deadly infections for which there was no known cure also appeared, including the viruses that cause hemorrhagic fever and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. In other fields of medicine, the diagnosis of disease has been revolutionized by the use of new imaging techniques, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. Scientists were also on the verge of success in curing some diseases using gene therapy, in which the insertion of normal or genetically altered genes into a patients cells replaces nonfunctional or missing genes. Improved drugs and new tools have made surgical operations that were once considered impossible now routine. For instance, drugs that suppress the immune system enable the transplant of organs or tissues with a reduced risk of rejection. Endoscopy permits the diagnosis and surgical treatment of a wide variety of ailments using minimally invasive surgery. Advances in high-speed fiber-optic connections permit surgery on a patient using robotic instruments controlled by surgeons at another location. Known as telemedicine, this form of medicine makes it possible for skilled physicians to treat patients in remote locations or places that lack medical help. Social Sciences In the 20th century the social sciences emerged from relative obscurity to become prominent fields of research. Austrian physician Sigmund Freud founded the practice of psychoanalysis, creating a revolution in psychology that led him to be called the Copernicus of the mind. In 1948 the American biologist Alfred Kinsey published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, which proved to be one of the best-selling scientific works of all time. Although criticized for his methodology and conclusions, Kinsey succeeded in making human sexuality an acceptable subject for scientific research. The 20th century also brought dramatic discoveries in the field of anthropology, with new fossil finds helping to piece together the story of human evolution. A completely new and surprising source of anthropological information became available from studies of the DNA in

mitochondria, cell structures that provide energy to fuel the cells activities. Mitochondrial DNA has been used to track certain genetic diseases and to trace the ancestry of a variety of organisms, including humans.