This year marks a turning point in cancer, as long-sought efforts to unleash the immune system against tumors are paying off—even if the future remains a question mark.

A gene-editing technique called CRISPR touched off an explosion of research in 2013, leading Science's editors to name it a runner-up for the 2013 Breakthrough of the Year.

A new brain-imaging technique that turns brain tissue transparent made the short list of runners-up for Science's Breakthrough of the Year.

Researchers announced they had derived stem cells from cloned human embryos, a long-awaited research coup that Science's editors chose as a runner-up for Breakthrough of the Year.

In research that Science's editors chose as a runner-up for Breakthrough of the Year, scientists coaxed cells called pluripotent stem cells to grow into tiny "organoids"—liver buds, mini-kidneys, and even rudimentary human brains—in the lab.

This year, astronomers traced high-energy particles called cosmic rays back to their birthplaces in the debris clouds of supernovae—a feat that Science's editors chose as a runner-up for Breakthrough of the Year.

Up-and-coming solar cell materials called perovskites made such rapid progress this year that the editors of Science picked them as a runner-up for Breakthrough of the Year.

In work that Science's editors named a runner-up for Breakthrough of the Year, researchers studying mice have found experimental evidence that sleep helps to restore and repair the brain.

Researchers have found that bacteria living inside the human body play vital roles in determining how the body responds to challenges as different as malnutrition and cancer—a realization that Science's editors named a runner-up for Breakthrough of the Year.

In work that Science ranked as a runner-up for Breakthrough of the Year, researchers used structural biology—the study of the molecules of life—to design the key ingredient of a vaccine against a dangerous childhood disease.

Science editors rate how well they predicted scientific areas worth watching in 2013.

Science editors forecast science news to look out for in the year ahead.

Find out what Science staff considered the top breakup, breakdowns, breakout, and genomes of the year, as well as 2013's top fossil, politico, vertebrate, and invertebrate.

In science news around the world, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration introduces voluntary measures to combat antibiotic resistance in farm animals, the Great Barrier Reef is threatened by a proposed coal port along the Australian coast, China's lunar probe Chang'e-3 makes a smooth landing, and more.

Paleontologist Steve Brusatte, a consultant on the new animated film Walking with Dinosaurs, explains how the creators incorporate fresh science—from feathered characters to Late Cretaceous climate patterns—into a family-friendly adventure.

French mathematician Jean-Pierre Bourguignon was named the new president of the European Research Council (ERC) this week. At the dawn of the European Union's new 7-year research program, Horizon 2020, he describes his vision for ERC to Science.

Huge volcanic eruptions triggered the biggest mass extinction 252 million years ago.

Five federally funded optical and radio telescopes in the United States could be forced to shut down over the next 3 years because of budget cuts by the National Science Foundation.

A 2-year budget agreement pushes back the threat of sequestration, but leaves scientists still wondering how much money the U.S. government will spend this year on research.

Rekindling an old feud, a Nobel laureate argues that most physicists' basic assumptions about the origins of high-temperature superconductivity are wrong.

A global campaign to control robotic weapons gains momentum.

Investigation finds fingerprints of an autoimmune reaction.

Through his consideration of responses to 19th-century cholera outbreaks in the United States, Whooley explores interplay among science, medicine, and society.

Combining natural history and cultural study, Cocker surveys the wide range of interactions between humans and birds.

A listing of books received at Science during the week ending 13 December 2013.

The Student DNA Barcoding Project, an IBI prize–winning module, develops student-generated research to study local biodiversity using molecular biology skills.

Support for nontraditional students, team-based quality control, and assessment design are critical.

Brood parasites may play a key role in the evolution and maintenance of cooperative breeding in birds. [Also see Report by Feeney et al.]

A rare childhood disorder caused by mitochondrial dysfunction is treated by the drug rapamycin in a mouse model of the disease. [Also see Report by Johnson et al.]

A bacterial enzyme efficiently breaks down cellulose and hemicellulose without the help of other enzymes. [Also see Report by Brunecky et al.]

The genome sequence of Amborella trichopoda provides insights into the molecular evolution of flowering plants. [Also see Research Articles by Amborella Genome Project and Rice et al.]

The Michaelis-Menten equation, first reported 100 years ago, holds at the single-molecule level.

Sodium chloride transforms into exotic compounds such as NaCl₃ or Na₃Cl with compression, laser heating, and excess of Cl or Na. [Also see Report by Zhang et al.]

A small-molecule drug mimics the beneficial effects of adiponectin in cells and in animal models of diabetes and obesity.

The Amborella genome retains features of the ancestral angiosperm and illuminates flowering plant genomic evolution.

Much of the mitochondrial DNA genome of the flowering plant Amborella trichopoda originated from other organisms.

The mass of an exoplanet can be derived based on the properties of its atmosphere.

Key structural features dictate how the HIV envelope protein functions and interacts with the human immune system.

Key structural features dictate how the HIV envelope protein functions and interacts with the human immune system.

Transport measurements indicate a nontrivial spin texture stemming from strong spin-orbit coupling in the material BiTeI.

Interaction between two separated superconducting qubits can be mediated and controlled by microwaves.

Spectroscopy of excited-state hydrated electrons in a liquid jet implicates nonadiabatic relaxation.

A protocol for efficient vibrational excitation enabled discovery of an unusual reaction trajectory in a well-studied system.

Several phases in the Na-Cl system are stable at high pressures and temperatures. [Also see Perspective by Ibáñez Insa]

The skewed global distribution of cooperatively breeding birds may result from their coevolution with brood parasites. [Also see Perspective by Spottiswoode]

Acute locomotor responses to cocaine differ significantly in the most widely used inbred strains of laboratory mice.

Electron microscopy reveals that a cellulose-degrading enzyme operates by drilling down, as well as by roaming the surface. [Also see Perspective by Berlin]

Fluorescence in situ hybridization allows for next-generation sequencing of a large, difficult genome. [Also see Perspective by Adams; Research Articles by Amborella Genome Project and Rice et al.]

Continuing female fertility in mammals requires the function of a ubiquitin ligase complex in oocytes.

The structure of a human serotonin receptor was solved using a free-electron laser to analyze microcrystals.

A drug in clinical use for other disorders delays progression of an untreatable mitochondrial disease in knockout mice. [Also see Perspective by Vafai and Mootha]

Listen to a special show on this year’s breakthrough, runners up, and the top stories from our daily news site.

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