In 2024, scientists developed a vaccine that can prevent Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) 100%. They also achieved results using CAR-T therapy made from patients' immune cells to treat autoimmune diseases. The James Webb Space Telescope discovered bright galaxies in the early universe, and the U.S. space company SpaceX launched a massive spacecraft into the sky and returned it to the launch pad, capturing it with a robotic arm.
The scientific community expects similar research achievements in 2025 as in the previous year. The international journal Nature projects advancements in new obesity treatments and systems that can read brain’s thoughts. Unmanned landers will continue to go to the moon, and solar probes will also be launched in succession. Simultaneously, events such as the inauguration of President Trump in the US and international climate change conferences are also expected to have significant impacts on the scientific community.
◇Edible obesity drugs, non-narcotic painkillers follow
In 2024, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) obesity drugs that reduce appetite and increase satiety gained immense popularity. Following Denmark's Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and U.S. Eli Lilly's Zepbound, new obesity treatments are likely to emerge in 2025. Eli Lilly plans to conclude Phase 3 clinical trials for its oral treatment, orforglipron. This drug is expected to be easier and cheaper to produce than existing treatments.
Clinical trials of Eli Lilly's tri-functional obesity treatment candidate, retatrutide, are also anticipated to yield results in 2025. In Phase 2 trials, participants who took the highest dosage experienced an unprecedented efficacy with a 24.2% weight reduction over 11 months. Existing obesity medications achieved a weight loss effect of 15-20% over the same period.
Amgen, a U.S. pharmaceutical company, is preparing for Phase 3 clinical trials of the obesity treatment candidate maritide, which targets two pathways involved in glucose control and metabolism for monthly administration. Scientists will continue to explore whether GLP-1 obesity medications can treat other diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and addiction in 2025.
This year could mark a turning point in pain treatment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to complete its review of Suzetrigine, a non-narcotic painkiller developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, in January. If approved, it will be the first new class of painkillers to treat acute pain in 20 years.
◇Particle exploration and brain thought reading research
Particle physicists are hoping to see the European Spallation Source in Lund, Sweden, begin operations in 2025, after more than a decade of construction. The European Spallation Source will fire proton beams accelerated to near the speed of light at heavy metal targets to generate neutrons. Scientists plan to use these neutrons to examine the structure of matter.
Last year, Neuralink, founded by Tesla's Elon Musk, successfully conducted experiments implanting chips in patients' brains. The chips decode brain signals into computers, realizing the so-called brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. This year, China is expected to emerge as a competitor to the U.S. in BCI.
China's NEO is a wireless BCI designed to restore arm movement for paralyzed patients by placing eight electrodes above the sensory motor cortex of the brain. NEO has already enabled participants with spinal cord injuries to eat, drink, and grasp objects thanks to the BCI. The NEO research team plans to expand to larger-scale clinical trials in 2025.
◇Moon and sun exploration in space surge
2025 is expected to be a busy year for lunar exploration. In January, Japan's ispace will send an unmanned lander equipped with a rover to the moon. U.S. Intuitive Machines is also set to send an unmanned lander to the lunar south pole soon. This lander will carry a NASA ice drill and mass spectrometer to analyze beneath the lunar surface. NASA's box-shaped spacecraft, Lunar Trailblazer, will orbit the moon to create a water distribution map.
Solar exploration also surges. Two missions to study solar wind, a flow of high-energy particles emanating from the sun, will begin in 2025. The SMILE project, a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will study how solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetic field.
NASA's PUNCH mission is expected to help provide answers to the long-standing questions about energy flow into the solar system, which has puzzled astronomers for 60 years, by looking deeper into the solar atmosphere and capturing 3D images. Another NASA space telescope, SPHEREx, set to launch in 2025, will use infrared to initially map the entire sky in 102 colors.
◇Trump, climate change, and the pandemic are also key issues
In January, Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency has already raised concerns within the scientific community. Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, an international commitment to limit global warming to 1.5–2 °C above pre-industrial levels. The medical community is also concerned, as he has nominated vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy Jr. as Minister of Health and Human Services.
2025 marks the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. The world is preparing for a new pandemic. In August last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated a list of more than 30 pathogens that could cause the next pandemic, including Influenza A, dengue fever, and smallpox. The 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) will be held in November. Member countries hope to resolve the funding issues that remain unresolved from the COP29 meeting in 2024.
Satellites to study climate change will also be launched. NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation's NISAR satellite will survey nearly all of Earth's land and ice-covered surfaces twice on the 12th. Europe's Biomass satellite, launching from the Guiana Space Centre, will use radar to measure the biomass of forests.
Reference
Nature(2024), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03943-9