It's been an action-packed 2015 in science, from a breakthrough for peanut allergy sufferers to new discoveries of ancient humans and a possible alternative Earth in outer space.
Van Nguyen takes a look back at some of this year's most notable moments in science.
Australian scientists started the year with a bang - or maybe it was a crunch.
World-first research at Melbourne's Murdoch Institute discovered a way to reduce the potentially deadly peanut allergy for sufferers, by actually feeding them the nut protein.
Lead researcher Associate Professor Mimi Tang said there's more to do but the potential benefits can be huge.
"At the moment, all food allergies have a significant impact on quality of life. People with peanut allergy in particular are worried because there is the risk of a fatal outcome. It's a major advance, for medical science, if we can find a treatment that's curative for children with peanut allergy but also other food allergies."
Australian geneticists also had a breakthough, identifying mutant genes as a key cause of Cerebral Palsy, a debilitating illness that affects one in every 400 children.
Genetic sequencing allowed scientists to uncover DNA mutations, paving the way for better prevention and treatment for the disabling condition that affects movement and neural development.
The University of Adelaide's Robinson Research Institute established a world-first bio-bank which stores the genetic material of 400 families affected by Cerebral Palsy.
Neurogeneticist Professor Jozef Gecz said having access to such a wealth of DNA is helping researchers to pinpoint the 100 or so genes implicated in the illness.
"We have taken advantage of new genetic technologies and specifically sequencing, where we can sequence all DNA in an individual, and we also took advantage of the fact that we had parents participating in our study so we can actually look at trios - so mum, dad and affected child - and like this we have a lot more power to detect the genetic determinants which are different in a child versus their parents."
Australian researchers also isolated a breast-cancer gene which could lead to better-targeted treatments for women with aggressive forms of the disease.
The PIPP tumour-suppressant gene regulates the spread of the cancer in the body.
But lead researcher and dean of medicine at Monash University, Professor Christina Mitchell, said the discovery could prevent the cancer from moving to the liver, brain or bones, for example.
"If we could stop that initial spread from the primary tumour into the bloodstream and to distant sites, then that would really change breast-cancer outcomes. Now that's a long-term gain."
From health to pre-history, and a new discovery beneath the ground was made this year.
In South Africa, scientists discovered the remains of a previously unknown human ancestor, deep in a cave.
The unearthing of 15 partial skeletons is the largest single discovery yet of its type in Africa.
South Africa's Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed the discovery.
"People of the world, for us to understand how this species lived right here in South Africa, right here on the African continent, is something that is a great, great step for us. And one could echo what was once said, that this could well be a small step for *naledi -- naledi took a small step into that chamber -- but for us, as the people of the world, this is a gigantic step to understand who we are."
And researchers in Britain claimed to have identified what may be the world's oldest fragments of Islam's holy text, the Koran.
Radiocarbon dating of the manuscript at the University of Birmingham found it could be at least 1,370 years old.
The Chairman of the Birmingham Central Mosque Muhammad Afzal said the community is overwhelmed.
"When I saw these pages, I was very much moved and there were tears of joy and emotion in my eyes because we never thought that we would have such an old copy of the Holy Book."
Moving from the ancient past, and new discoveries in outer space have implications for the future.
Molecular oxygen - the air that we breathe - was found in deep space on a comet by the Rosetta Mission, more than 11 years after it was launched by the European Space Agency.
Melbourne Planetarium Astronomer Dr Tanya Hill said the discovery took them by surprise.
"It's amazing to have actually found oxygen, the gas that we breathe, from a comet. Although we have never had a spacecraft orbiting a comet before and so Rosetta has been there orbiting Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67-P) for almost a year now as the comet has approached the sun and then swung around it, and what's exciting about the oxygen discovery is that you don't expect oxygen to be found as a molecule on its own. Normally oxygen likes to bind with other molecules, so you'll get water or carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, they're all the most abundant gases that you'll find being released from this comet. But to find oxygen on its own, that's pretty amazing."
And from air, to water.
United States space agency NASA found the first evidence of flowing water on Mars.
It said salty liquid water runs down canyons and crater walls in the summer months on the Red Planet.
Planetary geologist Joe Michalski said the liquid water has boosted hopes that life -- in the form of microbes -- could be present.
"Life always depends on water. So here, we have a discovery which points us to the existence of liquid water on Mars today. And that suggests that bacteria could exist in those environments even now."
And US scientists using NASA's powerful Kepler telescope found a number of planets beyond our solar system - including one that is a close match to Earth.
The planet, which is about 60 per cent bigger than Earth, is located about 1,400 light years away orbiting a sun in what they call the "habitable zone".
NASA spokesman John Grunsfeld said it's a major development in space exploration - and it's likely there's more where that came from.
"We are announcing the discovery of an Exoplanet that, as far as we can tell, is a pretty good, close cousin to the earth and our sun. This is about the closest so far, and I really emphasise the so far because the Kepler data set is very rich and the science community has full access to be able to extract future discoveries out of the data set."
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