The prestigious magazine Science chose as the great achievement of the year the “seemingly unstoppable” growth of renewable energies, which in 2025 surpassed for the first time the global production of electricity from coal. The annual ranking of scientific advances also included discoveries about the Denisovans, advances in artificial intelligence, and innovative therapies in medicine.
Clean Energies on the Rise
The central article, titled “Good Morning, Sunshine”, celebrates that the energies generated from the sun and wind began to surpass those based on fossil fuels in multiple areas. According to Science’s editor-in-chief, Holden Thorp, between January and June, solar and wind energy grew enough to cover the entire increase in global electricity consumption.
In an editorial with a nod to The Beatles (“Here Comes the Sun”), Thorp noted that the planet approached the “carbon peak”, the point at which fossil emissions reach their maximum and then begin to decline. The transition is led by China, which, after years of subsidies, now dominates the global production of renewable technologies.
Personalized Medicine and Genetics
Another milestone was personalized genetic editing, applied for the first time to an American baby identified as KJ, affected by an incurable disease called CPS1. The treatment opens new hopes for patients with ultra-rare pathologies, although Science warns about its high cost and the uncertainty in the safety of these techniques.
In the health field, the clinical trials of two new drugs against gonorrhea were also highlighted, the first therapeutic novelty in decades against a disease that affects more than 80 million people a year.
In oncology, it was discovered how tumors manipulate nerve cells to receive mitochondria, facilitating their spread. This finding could open the door to more effective cancer treatments.
Science and Evolutionary Biology
The list included a key advance in paleoanthropology: the analysis of the DNA of the Harbin skull, found in China, confirmed that it belonged to a Denisovan from at least 146,000 years ago, providing new information about this species of hominids.
In the field of xenotransplantation, records were achieved thanks to genetically modified pigs. A kidney with 69 altered genes functioned for almost nine months in a patient, showing the potential of this technique for the future of medicine.
Artificial Intelligence and Astronomy
Artificial intelligence also had its place in the ranking. The large language models (LLM) demonstrated capabilities comparable to those of a doctorate in various sciences. DeepMind, with its Gemini LLM, won a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad, while GPT-5 from OpenAI solved combinatorial theory and graph problems that had puzzled experts for decades.
In astronomy, the commissioning of the Vera Rubin Observatory, located in Chile, equipped with the largest digital camera ever built, was celebrated. This telescope promises to usher in a new era in the observation of the universe.
Other Notable Scientific Advances
- In particle physics, it was confirmed that the muon is not more magnetic than predicted by the standard model, a result that allowed theorists to accurately calculate its magnetism using lattice gauge theory.
- In agriculture, Chinese researchers identified a gene in rice that protects the grain from the effects of nighttime heat, improving yield and quality. Its application in commercial varieties could be key in the face of climate change.
The Science ranking shows that 2025 was a year of great scientific advances in multiple disciplines: from the global energy transition to personalized medicine, through artificial intelligence and the exploration of the cosmos. A panorama that reflects how science continues to transform human life and offer solutions to future challenges.
