From the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines to DeepMind's new AI solution AlphaFold, here is a round-up of some of the most important scientific advances of 2020.

# Record-breaking COVID-19 vaccine development

As of Dec. 29, 2020, there were more than 200 vaccine candidates (60 in clinical and 172 in preclinical development) under development around the globe, according to the World Health Organization.

A team led by Dr. Kathrin Jansen, head of vaccine research at U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer, delivered a clinically validated vaccine in record time. Meanwhile, an adenovirus vector vaccine developed by a research team led by Chen Wei, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a researcher at the Institute of Military Medicine under the Academy of Military Sciences, was the first COVID-19 vaccine in the world to enter phase 2 clinical trials, bringing much hope to the world.