Pathway to discovery

In 1933, scientists discovered that flu was caused by a virus. Four years later, they showed that all flu viruses are not the same.

Every attempt to climb Mount Everest had failed, until a scientist investigated how climbers were affected by high altitudes.

After doctors noticed a leprosy drug wasn’t working properly anymore, they could transform leprosy into a curable disease.

The Sony Walkman was the inspiration for another device: a wearable pump that transformed the lives of people with diabetes.

In 1979, a scientist from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund discovered a protein that stops cancers from growing.

In the 1980s, researchers discovered a gene that we share with yeast and almost every other living thing.

In the 1980s, scientists discovered that the proteins that help our bodies heal could also cause cancer.

In 1990, researchers tracked down a gene that plays a pivotal role in the initiation of sex development.

In the 1990s, a scientist combined skills in microsurgery and genetics to overturn our understanding of how embryos develop.

In 2005, a discovery about broken DNA helped explain why some people are at greater risk of developing certain cancers.