Here’s our favorite firsts in emerging technology for 2010:

1. First truly synthetic organism created

Back in May, scientists completed a 15 year quest to create the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell. The team led by Craig Venter of America’s J. Craig Venter Institute (JVCI) proved the principle that genomes can be designed in the computer, chemically made in the laboratory and transplanted into a recipient cell to produce a new self-replicating cell controlled only by the synthetic genome. The research could lead to engineered bacteria designed for specific purposes such as producing drugs, biofuels or other useful chemicals.

2. The arrival of 3D

3D television entered the marketplace this year and the technology to create your own 3D content wasn’t far behind. January saw Panasonic’s unveiling of the world’s first integrated twin-lens Full HD 3D camcorder, followed by the first 3D consumer camcorder in July. Fujifilm also grabbed attention with the W3 – the world’s first compact 3D camera capable of shooting high definition video – and British Tabloid The Sun publish the first 3D newspaper complete with 3D glasses on June 5.

3. First commercially available Jet Pack

We’ve been waiting a long time for this one. Earlier this year New Zealand based Martin Aircraft announced the first commercially-available jet pack. The 250 lbs “Jetpack” (which uses twin ducted fans) is capable of 30 minutes of flight time, can reach heights of 8,000 feet and is fueled by regular premium gasoline.

You can lay down a deposit on the expected US$86,000 price tag, but don’t expect to take delivery until next year. For those of us without that kind of cash lying around, there’s also a Jetpack adventure travel experience on offer for around $10K.

4. Throw away your joysticks

2010 has been the year of motion control. While the Wii has been in the wild for some time, this year both Sony and Microsoft upped the ante with widely publicized entries into the space. Sony’s PlayStation Move combines controller tracking with body tracking via the PlayStation Eye camera while Microsoft’s Kinect does away with the controller altogether by using a CMOS camera, infrared projector and multi-array microphone to track the movements and voices of players … and the system is already showing potential beyond the gaming world.

5. Space tourism takes off

A string of world first announcements during 2010 from Virgin Galactic has marked a shift in the push towards space tourism. Among these we saw the first captive carry flight, the first free flight and the first manned flight of VSS Enterprise, plus the opening of the two mile long runway at Spaceport America.

There’s no firm commitment on a launch date, but Virgin Galactic’s first paying customers could be heading towards space as early as next year.

6. Re-thinking automobile ownership

It may not have all the bells and whistles of some of the world firsts listed here, but Daimler’s announcement of a “car2go edition” of the SMART fortwo marks a shift in the way we think about our personal transport. The car2go system allows cars to be spontaneously rented on-the-spot, or booked up to 24 hours in advance via a mobile phone or online.

Car sharing isn’t new, but with increasing pressure to stop choking our urban roads the announcement of the first production vehicles dedicated to this approach is a significant one (and BMW’s recently announced pilot scheme which will see its vehicles available for rent on an hourly basis over the Internet is also worth noting).

7. Molecular robot created from DNA

Nanotechnology breakthroughs have been a common feature on Gizmag’s pages throughout 2010, with everything from electronics, to solar energy and … molecular scale robotics. In May, U.S. scientists announced the creation of a spider-like nanobot just 4 nanometers wide that can be programmed to start, walk, turn left, turn right, or stop, using single-strand DNA molecules. Descendants of the molecular nanobot, or “spider,” could someday be used to treat diseases such as cancer or diabetes.

8. Solar powered spacecraft sets sail

Back in May the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the IKAROS project – a space yacht that gathers energy for propulsion from sunlight pressure (photons) by means of a square membrane measuring 20 meters (65.6 ft) diagonally.

In addition to “sailing” on solar wind, the spacecraft also uses thin film solar cells on the membrane will be used to generate its own electricity.

9. Shaking up energy

The renewable energy sector is another constant source of technological breakthroughs as efforts to get large scale green power online continue around the globe. These examples come from the other end of the spectrum – cleaner ways to power our tiny consumer electronics devices. Released earlier this year, the nPower PEGis a light-weight, titanium encased portable generator that can recharge a handheld device by harvesting kinetic energy as you move about in your daily life. Brother has also announced a battery based on the same basic principles – its Vibration Energy Cell batteries are designed to replace AA or AAA batteries in some low power devices, enabling them to be powered with a shake.

10. World’s first iPad

OK, so it’s not the world’s first tablet computer, but in many ways, it might as well be. Apple’s iPad hit the market in April and there’s little doubt it has bulldozed a new track in personal computing. We loved it, it sold 300,000 units on the first day and spurred almost every device manufacturer in the world into the tablet space. We think it’s fair to say that the iPad has created its own world first.

Prosthetics for Your Brain

Replacing a part of your brain isn’t as simple as replacing a limb, but in the future it could be. Theodore Berger, a professor at the University of Southern California, created a computer chip that could take the place of the hippocampus, a part of the brain which controls short-term memory and spatial understanding. Frequently damaged by things like Alzheimer’s and strokes, a hippocampus implant could help maintain normal function in people who’d otherwise be severely disabled. Berger is still testing this implant, but he’d like to see more. He even wrote a book, “Toward Replacement Parts for the Brain,” in 2005.

Old Man, New Penis

Erectile dysfunction can take the fun out of a man’s life, but Anthony Atala and his team at Wake Forest University have come up with a method that could put the spring back in many a guy’s, uh, step. In 2006, Atala succeeded in growing new corpora cavernosa, the spongy tissue that fills with blood during an erection, for male rabbits who’d had theirs removed. The new tissue was grown from the rabbits’ own cells and, after a month, the bunnies were back to doing what they do best.

Artificial Cells

Sometimes, when you need to deliver drugs to just the right spot in the body, a pill or an injection won’t cut the mustard. Daniel Hammer, professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, has a better method: artificial cells, made from polymers, which can mimic the ease with which white blood cells travel through the body. Called c, these fake cells could deliver drugs directly where they’re needed, making it easier and safer to fight off certain diseases, including cancer.

Wearable Kidney

For people with failing kidneys, basic necessities of life like removing toxins from the blood and keeping fluid levels balanced requires hours hooked up to a dialysis machine the size of a clothes dryer. But a new, portable artificial kidney, small and light enough to fit on a belt system, could change that. Despite its small size, the automated, wearable artificial kidney (AWAK), designed by Martin Roberts and David B.N. Lee of UCLA, actually works better than traditional dialysis because it can be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week, just like a real kidney.

Smart Knee

The knee isn’t a part of the body you’d expect to think for itself, but the RHEO, a prosthetic knee developed by MIT artificial intelligence researchers Hugh Herr and Ari Wilkenfeld, really does have a mind of its own. Earlier electronic knee systems usually had to be programmed by a technician when the patient first put them on. The RHEO knee, on the other hand, creates realistic, comfortable motion on its own, by learning the way the user walks and by using sensors to figure out what kind of terrain they’re walking on. The system makes walking with a prosthetic leg easier and less exhausting.

New Limbs

Amputees can now use a prosthetic arm the same way they’d use a real one: By the power of thought. Developed by Dr. Todd Kuiken of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the “bionic arm” is connected to the brain by healthy motor nerves that used to run into the patient’s missing limb. These nerves are re-routed to another area of the body, such as the chest, where the nerve impulses they carry can be picked up by electrodes in the bionic arm. When the patient decides to move her hand, the nerves that would have sent the signal to real hand send it to the prosthetic one instead. Now, Dr. Kuiken’s team is working on improving the arm, using surviving sensory nerves to communicate the feeling of temperature, vibration and pressure from the bionic arm to the patient’s brain.

Inhuman Taste

The tongue can be a powerful tool, but also a highly subjective one, said Dean Neikirk, professor of computer and electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. When food companies want to create the same flavor every time, they turn to the electronic tongue, a device developed by Neikirk and his team to analyze liquids and pick out their exact chemical make-up. Neikirk’s tongue uses microspheres, tiny sensors that change color when exposed to a specific targets, such as certain kinds of sugars. The result is a system that can’t replace the person who says, “This tastes good!” but can make sure the chemistry of good taste is reliably replicated.

Portable Pancreas

An artificial pancreas, capable of monitoring a person’s blood sugar and adjusting the level of insulin to meet their body’s needs, will likely be on the market within a few short years, said Aaron Kowalski, director of strategic research projects at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Kowalski said the device would initially be a combination of two existing technologies: an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor. The contraption could help insulin-dependent diabetics lead more normal lives and make it easier for them to avoid the disfiguring and life-threatening side effects of having too little or too much blood sugar.

Re-Grown Bone

Since the 1960s, researchers have known about proteins that can prompt bone tissue to grow its own patches for missing or damaged parts. Unfortunately, that technology never worked perfectly, often growing the wrong type of tissue or growing bone where bone shouldn’t be. In 2005, researchers at UCLA solved the problem, using a specially designed protein capable only of triggering growth in specific types of cells. Called UCB-1, the protein is now used to grow new bone that can fuse and immobilize sections of vertebrae, relieving severe back pain in some patients.

Bionic Eyes

When you’re blind, being able to see even the basics of light, movement and shape can make a big difference. Both the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis, currently in FDA trials, and a system being developed by Harvard Research Fellow Dr. John Pezaris record basic visual information via camera, process it into electronic signals and send it wirelessly to implanted electrodes. The Argus II uses electrodes implanted in the eye, which could help people who’ve lost some of their retinal function. Dr. Pezaris’ system, still in the early stages of research, would bypass the eyes entirely, sending visual data straight to the brain. Both systems will work best with people who could once see because their brains will already know how to process the information. “The visual brain depends on visual experience to develop normally,” Pezaris explained.