New and reusable anti-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. As reported in the Nature article, World Health Organization (WHO) member states have missed an initial June 2024 deadline to agree on a global treaty on the pandemic, as talks have stalled over disagreements over rules for sharing samples and genomic sequences of pathogenic microorganisms and the use of technologies that can help low- and middle-income countries produce vaccines, drugs and test kits rapidly during pandemics. Now, member states aim to finalize 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 micro-organisms, including the viruses that cause influenza A, dengue and monkeypox.

Two more important developments are expected in the field of medicine. Following the tremendous 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 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 disease, Alzheimer’s and addiction. Nature also notes that this year could mark a turning point in how pain is treated, as US regulators are expected to complete a January review of a non-opioid painkiller called suzetrigin. 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 plans to test brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies that could compete with implants made by Elon Musk’s Neuralink company are emerging in the field of medical technology. 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 to people with paralysis. Clinical trials began in 2023, with larger trials expected in 2025.

Space missions

2025 is expected to be a year dedicated to the Moon. Tokyo-based ispace, which is close to landing its craft on the moon in 2023, will launch its next attempt, a mission called Venture Moon, which will carry a lunar landing craft and a small rover. Shortly thereafter, Intuitive Machines in Houston, Texas will send a lunar rover to the Moon’s south pole, carrying a NASA ice drill and a spectrometer to analyze materials below 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 more than 100 million stars in our Milky Way Galaxy to help scientists understand the origins of the Universe.

In 2025, two missions will be launched to study the solar winds. 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 start operating after more than a decade of construction. With the help of neutrons, this colossal machine will explore the secrets of matter. The same year will see the completion of a detailed feasibility study assessing the costs, technical aspects and environmental impacts of building 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 COP30 climate summit in November 2025 in Brazil will mark 30 years of United Nations climate talks. Countries hope to finalize funding decisions left pending at the 2024 conference. These include how to secure $300 billion a year in climate finance to support developing countries through 2035, how much will be given as grants and where the money will come from. Also, negotiations for a UN plastics treaty are to continue, in order to create a binding international framework for the regulation of 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 Indian Space Research Organization will map nearly 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 inform future discussions about commitments to end deforestation.

The journal Nature also puts, in the focus of its article, the return of Donald Trump to the office of the US president, which “could bring about sweeping changes in American science with global implications.” During his previous term, Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Climate Agreement, and some researchers worry he may do so again, as well as roll back climate regulations on power plants and cars. It is also expected to introduce policies that have implications for reproductive health and medicine. Finally, it is recalled that during his election campaign Trump promised to repeal Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence, a guideline for the safe and responsible development of new technology.