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From an alarming global health emergency to an increased focus on antibiotic resistance, 2016 was a year replete with attention on infectious disease. But the year also included events ranging from clinical trials gone horribly awry to calls for expanded access to marijuana for research.
From tech billionaires turned medical philanthropists to a crusader for improved drug safety, our list of newsmakers this year includes a number of hyper-ambitious individuals.
This past year saw breakthroughs in areas ranging from gene editing to eye-tissue repair. Here are a few of the research papers that reported some of the exciting discoveries of 2016.
Gene therapies featured prominently among this year's newsworthy drugs, some of which have already received a green light from regulatory agencies for sale or are otherwise surging forward in trials. Other drugs ended the year with a much less rosy efficacy or safety profile.