New and reusable anti-obesity drugs, bold space missions and policies to address 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 lockouts and spurred the rapid development of vaccines. As reported in the Nature article, member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) missed the 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 the use of technologies that can help low- and middle-income countries produce vaccines, drugs, and testing kits quickly during pandemics. Now, member states 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 viruses that cause influenza A, dengue, and monkey pox.

In the field of medicine, two more important developments are expected. Following 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 to test for drugs with good efficacy. Also, researchers will continue to explore the potential of GLP-1 agonists in the treatment of other diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s and addiction. Nature further notes that this year could mark a turning point in the way pain is treated, as US regulators are expected to complete a review of a non-opioid painkiller called susetrigine 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.

In the area of harnessing technology in medicine, China’s plan to test brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies that could rival the implants made by Neuralink by Elon Musk is highlighted. Applications would range from medical rehabilitation to virtual reality. One of these products will be the 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 ispace, which came close to landing its spacecraft in 2023, will launch its next effort, a mission called Venture Moon, carrying a lander and a small rover. Soon after, Intuitive Machines in Houston, Texas, will send a space lander to the Moon’s south pole, carrying a NASA ice drill and a spectrometer to analyze materials beneath the lunar surface. As part of the same mission, NASA’s box-shaped Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft 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 over 100 million stars in the Milky Way to help scientists understand the origins of the Universe.

Two missions to study solar winds will also be launched in 2025. 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 peer deeper into the Sun’s atmosphere, capturing 3D images that will help clarify questions about how this energy flows through the Solar System.

In 2025, the European Spallation Source in Lund, Sweden, is expected to begin operating after more than a decade of construction. With the help of neutrons, this colossal machine will probe the secrets of matter. In the same year, a detailed feasibility study will be completed to assess the cost, technical aspects and environmental impact of building a proposed new particle collider (FCC) at CERN, estimated at $17 billion. The report will form the basis of a final decision in 2028.

Climate change and Trump

The next COP30 climate summit in November 2025 in Brazil will mark 30 years of UN climate talks. Countries hope to finalize funding decisions left pending at the 2024 summit. These include how $300 billion a year will be secured to fund climate action to support developing countries by 2035, how much will be provided as grants and where the money will come from. Negotiations on a UN plastics treaty are also to continue in order to create a binding international framework for regulating 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 India’s Space Research Organisation, will map almost all of Earth’s land and ice-covered surface twice every 12 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 focuses its article on Donald Trump’s return to office as US president, which “could bring sweeping changes to American science with global implications”. During his previous term, Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Climate Agreement and some researchers are concerned that he may do so again, as well as overturn climate regulations regarding power plants and cars. It is also expected to introduce policies that have implications for reproductive health and medicine. Finally, it will be recalled that during his campaign Trump promised to repeal Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence, a guideline for the safe and responsible development of new technology.