Editing 1998 in science (section)

==Physiology and medicine==
* January 14 – Researchers in [[Dallas]], Texas, present findings about an [[enzyme]] that slows aging and cell death ([[apoptosis]]).
* February 19 – [[RNA interference]] first elucidated in the [[nematode]] ''[[Caenorhabditis elegans]]''.
* February 28 – [[Andrew Wakefield]] publishes a [[case series]] (subsequently partially retracted) in ''[[The Lancet]]'' of twelve children with [[Gastroenterology|gastroenterological]] and [[Autism spectrum|autistic spectrum]] disorders believed to have first presented soon after receipt of the [[MMR vaccine]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Wakefield, A. J.|title=Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children|journal=Lancet|volume=351|issue=9103|pages=637–41|date=1998-02-28|pmid=9500320|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(97)11096-0|s2cid=439791 |display-authors=etal}}{{Retracted|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60175-4|pmid=20137807|http://retractionwatch.com/the-retraction-watch-leaderboard/top-10-most-highly-cited-retracted-papers/ ''Retraction Watch''|http://retractionwatch.com/2015/02/03/frauds-long-tail-measles-outbreak-shows-important-look-downstream-retractions/ ''Retraction Watch''|intentional=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|authorlink=Ben Goldacre|first=Ben|last=Goldacre|chapter=The Media's MMR Hoax|title=Bad Science|location=London|publisher=Harper Perennial|year=2009|isbn=978-0-00-728487-0|pages=290–331}}</ref>
* March 27 – The [[Food and Drug Administration]] approves [[Viagra]] for use as a treatment for [[erectile dysfunction]], the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States.
* May – Friedrich-Wilhelm Mohr performs the first [[robotic surgery|robotically assisted]] [[coronary artery bypass surgery]], at the [[Leipzig]] Heart Centre in Germany using the [[da Vinci Surgical System]];{{citation needed|date=January 2011}} later in the year, Ralph Damiano performs on 17 patients in [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite book|page=151|first=Trevor|last=Homer|title=The Book of Origins|location=London|publisher=Portrait|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7499-5110-8}}</ref>
* July 17 – [[Biologist]]s report in the journal ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' how they sequenced the [[genome]] of the bacterium that causes [[syphilis]], ''[[Treponema pallidum]]''.
* August – [[Edinburgh]] Modular Arm System, the world's first [[bionic arm]], is fitted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nms.ac.uk/explore/stories/science-and-technology/made-in-scotland-changing-the-world/scottish-science-innovations/emas-bionic-arm/|title=EMAS: The first bionic arm|publisher=[[National Museums Scotland]]|accessdate=2017-08-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815184106/http://www.nms.ac.uk/explore/stories/science-and-technology/made-in-scotland-changing-the-world/scottish-science-innovations/emas-bionic-arm/|archive-date=August 15, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* September 23 – The world's first medically successful [[hand transplantation]] is carried out by a team of surgeons in France.<ref>{{cite news|title=World's first hand transplant|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/179435.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=1998-09-25|accessdate=2013-01-05}}</ref>
* December 11
** [[Bruce Beutler]] and colleagues publish their discovery that [[Toll-like receptor]] 4 functions as a [[lipopolysaccharide]] sensing receptor.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Poltorak, Alexander|authorlink=Alexander I. Poltorak|title=Defective LPS signaling in C3H/HeJ and C57BL/10ScCr mice: mutations in Tlr4 gene|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=282|issue=5396|pages=2085–8|date=December 1998|pmid=9851930|doi=10.1126/science.282.5396.2085|bibcode=1998Sci...282.2085P|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
** The [[nematode]] ''[[Caenorhabditis elegans]]'' becomes the first [[multicellular organism]] to have its [[whole genome sequencing]] published.<ref>With some small gaps. {{cite journal|author=The ''C. elegans'' Sequencing Consortium|year=1998|title=Genome sequence of the nematode ''C. elegans'': A platform for investigating biology|journal=Science|volume=282|issue=5396|pages=2012–2018|doi=10.1126/science.282.5396.2012|pmid=9851916|bibcode=1998Sci...282.2012.}}</ref>
* [[Fred Gage]] and [[Peter Eriksson (neuroscientist)|Peter Eriksson]] discover and announce [[neurogenesis]] in the adult human [[hippocampus]].