Mind-boggling advances in biology and medicine are being made everyday by brilliant scientists around the world.
From improving our understanding of everything from the human brain to the trillions of microbes that live on and within us, these researchers and physicians are revolutionizing the field.
These people were selected from a list we compiled of 50 scientists from across the globe.
SEE ALSO: 50 groundbreaking scientists who are changing the way we see the world
Cori Bargmann is giving us new insights into the brain
Through her studies on roundworms, Cori Bargmann is uncovering how neurons and genes affect behavior. Because many of the gene mechanisms in roundworms mimic those of mammals, Bargmann is able to manipulate certain genes and observe how that affects changes in behavior.
For example, in one study she manipulated a gene that caused the male worms to bumble around while trying to mate, ultimately failing. Bargmann developed the Brain Research Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative, which researches the root causes of conditions such as Alzheimer's and autism by looking at connections between brain function and behavior.
Bargmann is the Torsten N. Wiesel Professor in the Lulu and Anthony Wang Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behavior at Rockefeller University.
Craig Spencer fought Ebola — and survived it
As New York City's first Ebola patient, Craig Spencer became the target of media criticism. However, he wasn't just a patient — Spencer had spent five weeks in West Africa helping people fight the deadly virus, where it had become the largest epidemic in history, killing more than 6,300 people.
Though Spencer infected no one else and is now Ebola-free, his case brought to light several controversies surrounding Ebola treatment in the US, as well as raised awareness of the epidemic raging in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
Spencer is a physician at New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center.
Cynthia Kenyon wants to make us live longer, healthier lives
Cynthia Kenyon joined Google's Calico venture last year, where she helps a team of scientists develop methods to slow aging and prevent age-related diseases.
The goal of Calico is to extend human lives by up to 100 years. Kenyon gained prominence in the science community in 1993 for her discovery that altering a single gene in roundworms could double their life span. Since then, Kenyon has pioneered many more breakthroughs in aging research, including pinpointing which genes help us live longer and determining that a common hormone-signaling pathway controls the rate of aging in several species, humans included.
Kenyon is the vice president of aging research at Calico.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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