From astoundingly via the new James Webb Space Telescope to a in a California laboratory that could be the path to carbon-free energy, from the to promising research on an --there have been plenty of scientific discoveries this year.

Covid-19, however, is not over. There have been and 6.48m deaths since the start of the pandemic--with over one million deaths just this year.

But more than 13bn vaccine doses have been administered and nearly 70% of the world’s population has now received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine. Scientists continue to work on new vaccines, including pan-coronavirus vaccines, that may be able to address future variants. One vaccine, from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the US, even this year.

Health research in Luxembourg

There’s still a lot we don’t know about covid-19 and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease. Researchers at the University of Luxembourg, for example, are exploring how --part of long covid--can persist. The Luxembourg Institute of Health has also shown that voice recordings of people with covid-19 can be and has of people who were infected.

In addition, the LIH is conducting , exploring the and investigating , amongst other topics. It also developed , providing an overview of the domain and how these disciplines may evolve in the future.

Companies focused on healthcare technology, like the American company , which provides cold chain management solutions, or pharmaceuticals, like , also announced in 2022 that they will maintain or establish activities in the grand duchy.

What do rare diseases and purple tomatoes have in common?

However, there are still steps to be made, for instance, in the . Luxembourg should capitalise on technological advances, increase support for patients with rare diseases and promote awareness.

As many rare diseases have a single-gene cause, gene therapy--using gene editing techniques like Cripsr/Cas-9 (for which the )--may be a way to address the root cause of these diseases. In mid-December, the European Medicines Agency granted a conditional authorisation for the , a disorder that causes increased bleeding.

But did you know that gene editing can also be used in food? This year, the US department of agriculture , which, in addition to its altered colour, has enhanced nutritional qualities. If you’ve ever wondered what a purple tomato tastes like, wonder no longer--you’ll have an opportunity to find out next year. Can gene editing be used to help ?

International renown and high-quality research in Luxembourg

At an October event marking the start of the academic year, university rector Stéphane Pallage highlighted that in coming years, with specialised medical programmes to be launched.

In December, Björn Ottersten, director of the University of Luxembourg’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), , which he called a “recognition for the scientific activity in Luxembourg.”

Here’s to hoping for even more scientific progress in 2023.