Editing 1978 in science (section)

==Physiology and medicine==
* May 13 – "[[Basaglia Law]]" (Mental Health Act) in Italy requires closing down of all psychiatric hospitals and their replacement with community services.
* July 25 – [[Louise Brown]] becomes the world's first human born from [[in vitro fertilisation]], in England.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/25/newsid_2499000/2499411.stm|title=1978: First 'test tube baby' born|access-date=2013-12-18|date=1978-07-25|work=On This Day|publisher=[[BBC News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221044857/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/25/newsid_2499000/2499411.stm|archive-date=2007-12-21|url-status=live}}</ref>
* August – [[Osteocalcin]] first identified in animal bone.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hauschka, P. V.|author2=Reid. M. L.|title=Timed appearance of a calcium-binding protein containing gamma-carboxyglutamic acid in developing chick bone|journal=[[Developmental Biology (journal)|Developmental Biology]]|volume=65|issue=2|pages=426–34|year=1978|pmid=680371|doi=10.1016/0012-1606(78)90038-6}}</ref>
* September 6 – Production of the first [[Genetic engineering|genetically engineered]] synthetic "human" [[insulin]] using ''[[Escherichia coli|E. coli]]'' by [[Arthur Riggs (geneticist)|Arthur Riggs]] and [[Keiichi Itakura]] at the [[Beckman Research Institute]] of the [[City of Hope National Medical Center]] in collaboration with [[Herbert Boyer]] at [[Genentech]] is announced in [[California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gene.com/gene/news/press-releases/display.do?method=detail&id=4160|title=First Successful Laboratory Production of Human Insulin Announced|date=1978-09-06|work=News Release|publisher=Genentech|access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.littletree.com.au/dna.htm|title=Recombinant DNA Technology in the Synthesis of Human Insulin|last=Tof|first=Ilanit|year=1994|publisher=Little Tree|access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref>
* The rare [[genetic disorder]] [[Pitt–Hopkins syndrome]] is first described.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Pitt, D.|author2=Hopkins, I.|year=1978|title=A syndrome of mental retardation, wide mouth and intermittent overbreathing|journal=Australian Paediatric Journal|volume=14|issue=3|pages=182–184|doi=10.1111/jpc.1978.14.3.182|pmid=728011|s2cid=45629810}}</ref>
* [[Victor Skumin]] first describes "cardioprosthetic [[psychopathology|psychopathological]] [[syndrome]]",<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://biblmdkz.ru/articles/kardiologiia.html|pmid=7392405 |year=1980 |last1=Bendet |first1=Ia. A. |last2=Morozov |first2=S. M. |author3-link=Victor Skumin |last3=Skumin |first3=V. A. |title=Psychological aspects of the rehabilitation of patients after the surgical treatment of heart defects |script-title=ru:Психологические аспекты реабилитации больных после хирургического лечения пороков сердца |trans-title=Psychological aspects of the rehabilitation of patients after the surgical treatment of heart defects |language=Russian |volume=20 |issue=6 |pages=45–51 |journal=Kardiologiia |access-date=25 June 2024 }}</ref> later known as "Skumin syndrome",<ref>{{cite web |title=Skumin syndrome |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2569523 |publisher=wikidata.org |access-date=30 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426035327/http://genex.ua/site/page.php?lang=RU&id_part=148&id_word=85&bp=4|archive-date=2012-04-26 |url-status=live}}</ref> a form of [[anxiety]] suffered by recipients of [[artificial heart valve]]s.
* [[Imposter syndrome]] is first described as a phenomenon.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Clance|first1=Pauline R.|last2=Imes|first2=Suzanne A.|year=1978|title=The Impostor Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention|url=http://mpowir.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Download-IP-in-High-Achieving-Women.pdf|journal=Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice|volume=15|issue=3 |pages=241–247|doi=10.1037/h0086006}}</ref>