ISLAMABAD: Despite a year marked by budget cuts and shrinking research teams, science delivered some remarkable wins in 2025. Breakthroughs across medicine reshaped how we understand human health—and, in some cases, changed how care is provided today, foreign media reported.
Scientists uncovered surprising new ways to prevent diseases and to boost cancer treatments. They’ve created an atlas of the human body, edited a gene for a single child, and improved care for conditions ranging from food allergies to menopause to cervical cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). These are nine of the year’s most impressive discoveries.
1. A non-hormonal revolution in menopause care
More than 80 percent of women experience hot flashes and night sweats during the transition to menopause. Hormone therapy remains the most effective treatment, but many women with breast or uterine cancer, deep vein thrombosis, or other conditions can’t take it.
Two new non-hormonal treatments for moderate to severe hot flashes now offer relief. Lynkuet (elinzanetant), approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year, joins Veozah (fezolinetant), which received authorisation two years earlier. The daily pills target the temperature-regulating neurons in the brain’s hypothalamus.
2. An allergy rescue for kids without a needle
Fast, easy access to epinephrine can be lifesaving for children with severe allergies. This year brought a needle-free alternative. Neffy, a new prescription nasal spray, marks the first major update to epinephrine delivery for children in more than three decades.
Neffy is approved for children ages four and older who weigh from 33 to 65 pounds. Experts expect that this easily administered medicine will help more children during an allergic emergency.
3. Giant leaps in regenerative medicine
The long-standing sci-fi dream of regenerating or regrowing human body parts edged closer to reality.
Scientists studying how amputated salamanders regrow their limbs pinpointed an enzyme that fine-tunes levels of retinoic acid, a molecule essential to regeneration. The findings offer a rough blueprint that could one day guide limb regrowth in people recovering from traumatic injuries.
Other advances brought regenerative medicine into new territory. Researchers developed the first implantable patch that strengthened the heart’s wall in monkeys. This is a promising approach for people with heart failure. Scientists also used stem cells to create functioning ureter tissue.
4. Better sexually transmitted infection screens
More than two million Americans are diagnosed annually with a sexually transmitted infection (STI)—but many others have the disease and don’t know it.
This year brought significant improvements to how several common STIs are detected.
A new tool, the Teal Wand, lets women collect these vaginal cells at home, after a brief virtual visit to obtain a prescription. Another at-home option, the Visby test screens for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis. Users can collect a sample of cells and insert them into a small test device, which displays results in 30 minutes on the product’s app.
5. Gene editing for one
The gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 has transformed treatment for sickle cell disease. But this year, doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia designed a custom gene for a single patient, a baby boy born with a rare genetic and life-threatening metabolic disorder. Baby KJ was born with a rare genetic disorder causing life-threatening ammonia buildup; half of affected infants die soon after birth without a liver transplant. In a pioneering treatment, CRISPR delivered via lipid nanoparticles corrected the mutation in his liver cells, enabling normal enzyme production. Early results show dramatic health improvement and potential for a cure.
6. Simple, effective HIV prevention
Human immunodeficiency virus, the microbe that causes AIDs, remains a major global health challenge.
This year, the FDA approved Yeztugo (lenacapavir), a twice-yearly injectable PrEP developed by Gilead Sciences. Studies show that, when given every six months, the shots prevent nearly all transmission of HIV. (The drug, along with other medications, also helps manage HIV in those already affected, although it is not a cure.)
7. Vaccines that fight more than infection
Vaccines, already proven effective against viruses like Covid-19, flu, and shingles, may offer broader benefits: new research suggests they can also help prevent heart attacks and dementia, and improve responses to some cancer treatments. People who got the herpes zoster vaccination to prevent shingles, reduced their risk of stroke by 16 percent and heart attack by 18 percent and lowers the odds of developing dementia by up to a third, researchers determined. Meanwhile, people with advanced lung and skin cancer who took a Covid-19 mRNA vaccine reported improved response to the tumors and lived longer. Scientists can’t say for sure why getting vaccinated has these additional benefits.
8. Stopping pancreatic cancer before it starts
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest malignancies. In 2025, scientists made progress toward detecting—and potentially preventing—the disease much earlier. In studies using lab mice and human cells, scientists found that blocking the FGFR2 protein, which turbocharges early pancreatic cancer cells, prevents them from becoming cancerous in certain situations.
9. Creating an atlas of the human body
This year, UK Biobank completed over one billion medical scans from 100,000 volunteers, along with blood tests, genetic data, and lifestyle assessments. Hundreds of thousands will return for follow-up scans up to seven years later to track changes over time. Already, the resource has fuelled thousands of studies — including the discovery from 40,000 scans that heart disease often coexists with brain changes, reinforcing that protecting cardiovascular health may reduce dementia risk.
