This year was marked by major scientific breakthroughs that could eventually transform healthcare systems for millions of people around the world.
Euronews highlighted five medical advances that inspired hope in 2025.
Editing a Baby’s DNA to Treat a Rare, Deadly DiseaseIn February, a baby with a rare and often fatal genetic disorder received the world’s first personalized CRISPR-based therapy, in which scientists directly edited defective genes in the infant’s liver.
Although the child will require lifelong monitoring, the treatment reduced the baby’s dependence on medications to control the disease and significantly improved quality of life. In November, the child’s mother said the baby had begun to walk and was reaching other important developmental milestones.
Researchers said the success of the procedure represents a major breakthrough for CRISPR and shows that this technology could help other patients with genetic diseases in the future.
Progress in mRNA Vaccine TechnologyVaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology became widely known during the COVID-19 pandemic, and hundreds of clinical trials are now testing them against influenza, HIV, genetic diseases, and even cancer.
Some of these trials have already produced promising early results. Over the summer, two studies showed that mRNA-based HIV vaccines were able to induce neutralizing antibodies—a key component of the immune response that helps protect cells from viral infections.
These advances suggest that mRNA technology could become an effective tool against many diseases, although larger studies involving more people are needed to fully understand its potential and limitations.
Pig Organ Transplants Move Closer to RealityThe field of xenotransplantation—the transplantation of organs between species—reached several milestones this year, including the first genetically modified pig liver transplanted into a living patient.
The patient was a 71-year-old man with liver disease caused by hepatitis B and liver cancer, who was not eligible for traditional surgery and could not receive a human liver. He lived for 171 days with the pig liver, demonstrating that the organ was capable of performing vital functions in humans.
Scientists believe that transplanting modified pig organs into humans could eventually help alleviate the shortage of human donor organs. In recent years, pig kidneys, lungs, and hearts have also been transplanted into living patients, with some surviving for weeks.
Scientists Used Living Human Brain Tissue to Model DementiaFor the first time in the world, scientists in the UK used living human brain tissue to observe the early stages of dementia.
The team exposed healthy cells obtained during surgeries performed for other reasons to a toxic protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease, known as beta-amyloid, showing in real time how it damages connections between brain cells.
The ability to directly study how dementia develops in the human brain could make it easier to find treatments that actually work, especially since there is currently no cure for the condition.
Weight-Loss Drugs Show Promise for Treating Other ConditionsStudies have shown that highly popular drugs used to treat obesity and diabetes may also help with a wide range of other conditions, including addictions and psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia.
While these benefits are still being studied, scientists believe they may be twofold: the drugs reduce obesity, which is a risk factor for many other health problems, and they also improve blood flow and reduce inflammation. These effects may influence the brain’s reward system and impulse control.
However, these medications are not a cure-all. In November, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said its research showed that semaglutide—the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy—does not affect cognitive abilities or daily functioning in people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment.
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