Our basic knowledge of diseases and cancer will continue to grow through research advances with CRISPR-Cas9, paving the way for the discovery of more effective treatments. And CRISPR will enable developments in industrial, agricultural and ecological engineering that may parallel advances in human health and medicine.

Corn, is that you?

Normally, when an outbreak or epidemic is found, the first order of business is to confirm a situation is actually happening. Once that is confirmed, the next step is to identify the cause. In the case of Zika virus, both these steps happened without much concern. Unfortunately, the rest of the epidemiological investigation has been anything but a matter of routine. The reason stems from our rather rudimentary understanding of the Zika virus. While we have known about its existence for decades, only a few studies on its effect on humans have ever been conducted. This means we're learning new things every day as new studies are ordered. What this does NOT mean, however, is that we are all victims of a vast conspiracy. So let's keep that in mind as we look at what we do know so far.

Raising the dead is entirely fiction in the human perspective. But when it comes to microbes, bringing the departed -- or at least non-functional -- back to viability is possible. Last week, a European group of researchers unveiled how they were able to bring viruses back to life.