Filenews 2 January 2025
New and reusable obesity drugs, bold space missions and policies to tackle climate and manage pandemics are among the developments expected to shape research and science in 2025, according to the journal Nature.
March 2025 marks five years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused millions of deaths, led to widespread lockdowns and spurred the rapid development of vaccines. World Health Organization (WHO) member states missed an original June 2024 deadline to agree on a global treaty on the pandemic as talks stalled over disagreements over rules for sharing samples and genomic sequences of pathogens and using technologies that can help low- and middle-income countries produce vaccines. medications and testing kits quickly during pandemics. Member states now aim to finalise the text of the agreement by May 2025. These efforts come at a critical time, as last August the WHO updated its list of pathogens that could cause the next pandemic by adding more than 30 microorganisms, including the viruses that cause influenza A. dengue fever and monkey pox.
In the field of Medicine, two more important developments are expected. After the huge success of semaglutide and other GLP-1 agonists for weight loss, 2025 is likely to bring results and approvals for a new wave of treatments targeting obesity. Pharmaceutical companies continue testing for drugs with good efficacy. Researchers will also continue to explore the potential of GLP-1 agonists in the treatment of other diseases, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and addiction. Nature also notes that this year could mark a turning point in how pain is treated, as U.S. regulators are expected to complete a review of a non-opioid painkiller called susetrigin in January. If approved, the drug would be part of the first new class of drugs to treat acute pain in more than 20 years.
China's plan to test brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies that could compete with implants made by Elon Musk's company Neuralink is highlighted. Applications will range from medical rehabilitation to virtual reality. One of these products will be NEO, a wireless and minimally invasive BCI designed to restore hand movement in people with paralysis. Clinical trials began in 2023, with wider trials expected in 2025.
Space missions
2025 is expected to be a year dedicated to the Moon. Tokyo-based company ispace, which came close to landing its craft in 2023, will launch its next attempt, a mission called Venture Moon, carrying a lander and a compact rover. Soon after, Intuitive Machines in Houston, Texas, will send a lunar landing spacecraft to the moon's south pole, which will carry a NASA ice drill and spectrometer to analyze materials beneath the lunar surface. As part of the same mission, NASA's box-shaped spacecraft Lunar Trailblazer will orbit the Moon and map the water on its surface.
Another NASA mission due to launch in 2025, called SPHEREx, will map the entire sky in 102 colors for the first time using near-infrared light. Over two years, the satellite will collect data on more than 450 million galaxies and more than 100 million stars in the Milky Way to help scientists understand the origins of the Universe.
In 2025, two missions to study solar winds will be launched. The SMILE satellite, a joint project of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will study how the solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetic field. NASA's PUNCH mission will look deeper into the Sun's atmosphere, capturing three-dimensional images that will help clear up questions about how this energy flows into the Solar System.
In 2025, the European Spallation Source is expected to start operating in Lund, Sweden, after more than a decade of construction. With the help of neutrons, this colossal machine will investigate the secrets of matter. In the same year, a detailed feasibility study will be completed that will assess the cost, technical aspects and environmental impact of the construction of a proposed new particle accelerator (FCC) at CERN, budgeted at $17 billion. The report will form the basis of the final decision in 2028.
Climate change and Trump
The next climate summit COP30 in November 2025 in Brazil will mark 30 years of United Nations climate talks. The countries hope to finalise financing decisions left pending at the 2024 conference. These include how to secure $300 billion a year to finance climate action to support developing countries by 2035, how much to provide in grants, and where the money will come from. Negotiations on a UN plastics treaty are also set to continue in order to create a binding international framework to regulate plastic products.
Climate researchers will also have new opportunities to study forests and natural disasters with the launch of two satellites. The NISAR mission, a collaboration between NASA and the Space Research Organisation of India, will map almost all of Earth's land and ice-covered surface twice every twelve days. ESA's Biomass mission will use radar to measure forest biomass and study its role in the carbon cycle. Observations from these missions could feed into future discussions on commitments to end deforestation.
The journal Nature also puts Donald Trump's return to office as president of the United States, which "could bring sweeping changes to American science with global implications." During his previous term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, and some researchers worry he may do it again, as well as overturn climate regulations on power plants and cars. It is also expected to introduce policies that have implications for reproductive health and medicine. During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to repeal Biden's executive order on artificial intelligence, a guideline for the safe and responsible development of new technology.
