A year full of discoveries

Progress against malaria

There hasn’t been a new drug for malaria in 25 years. GanLum, a drug made by Novartis, could be the first of the millennium. In early 2025, Novartis announced that it was effective against strains of the parasite that causes malaria, Plasmodium falciparumwhich are resistant to the currently commonly used drug artemisinin.

Additionally, researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced in January in Science the identification of a new category of drugs targeting a very stable part of the cells of this protozoan responsible for the death of 600,000 people each year worldwide. This will reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance.

New for menopause

Menopause is one of the most lagging areas of medicine, despite the fact that it affects half of humanity.

But this is changing. This year, a drug to relieve hot flashes, Lynkuet, was approved in Canada and several Western countries. It is the second in a new category of “non-hormonal” treatments.

Research aimed at prolonging the life of the ovaries is intensifying. These organs, the source of eggs, are also involved in the production of the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone, which are used in hormone therapy during menopause. The ovaries also send other chemical signals throughout the body, and their disappearance plays a role in menopause symptoms. So it might be beneficial to run them longer.

One of the studies launched in recent years could delay menopause by seven years.

Eliminate perfluorinates in aquifers

The contamination of aquifers – where groundwater is found – by perfluorochemicals (PFAS), these chemicals used for their non-stick, waterproofing and fire-fighting properties, made the headlines this year, notably in Sainte-Cécile-de-Milton, in Estrie, and in La Baie, in Saguenay.

To eliminate them, the water must be filtered with activated carbon and then destroyed by incineration. But an American company, RemWell, has been testing for several years a “reactor” that destroys perfluorochemicals directly in aquifers, without requiring pumping or costly specialized incineration.

The RemWell reactor creates bubbles with ultrasound, which attracts the perfluorinates, which are then destroyed by very high temperatures.

The third interstellar comet

The first interstellar comet, Oumouamoua, could only be observable for three months, in 2017. Due to the small amount of data collected, a famous astrophysicist, Avi Loeb of Harvard University, claimed in a scientific article that it could be an extraterrestrial ship, due to its movements difficult to explain. An opinion which has provoked numerous criticisms.

This year, for Atlas, the third comet from outside our solar system, astrophysicists were ready. It has been examined from every angle since its discovery in early summer 2025. It will be visible until next summer, which will allow real data to be accumulated on the composition of the Milky Way. Half a dozen space probes, including Mars orbiters, were able to observe Atlas.

Accelerate the treatment of head injuries

Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize medicine. At the University of Toronto, AI is helping to speed up the treatment of head injuries.

When a patient with a head injury is examined in medical imaging, the ASIST-TBI system uses AI to determine whether their case should be evaluated by a neurosurgeon. This allows the emergency physician not to wait for the opinion of a radiologist before contacting a neurosurgeon.

This should help speed up treatment in regional hospitals and prioritize the most urgent cases, according to researchers at the University of Toronto, who are evaluating whether to expand ASIST-TBI across the province.

Head injuries are the leading cause of death among young men in Canada. Only 20% of cases will need surgery.

The geothermal revolution

In December, Énergir launched a new geothermal subsidiary. This is concrete proof that the falling costs of this green technology are real. Geothermal energy consists of harnessing the heat of the ground deep down to heat a house.

A sign of the seriousness of the geothermal boom, some of the most active companies in this field were born in oil-producing regions. Alberta firm Eavor has received German and Canadian grants for pilot projects for its closed-loop geothermal technology.

Screening for asthma in baby’s diaper

Signs of immune system disorders, such as allergies or asthma, are visible in the stools from the first year of life. This discovery could lead to early treatments and new prevention methods.

Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco have detected a characteristic “biological signature” in the intestinal microbiota of babies likely to later have asthma. This is a molecule linked to chronic inflammation, which may mean that the bacteria in the microbiota have been exposed to a dysregulation of the immune system.

The intestinal microbiota refers to all the microbes in the intestines. The composition can be determined by analyzing the stools.

Truly clean hydrogen

Hydrogen, a gas essential to many industries, including fertilizer, is currently produced from natural gas. The process emits greenhouse gases and is energy intensive. This is why several companies are trying to improve the production of “green hydrogen” obtained by hydrolysis of water with renewable energy.

A new avenue presents itself: gaseous hydrogen deposits. The first deposit was discovered in Mali by an Alberta company which launched production in 2014 and now wants to find deposits in Canada.

The American Geological Survey published a study this year estimating the planet’s exploitable hydrogen gas deposits at 1,000 billion tonnes. In 2024, in the magazine Frontiers in GeochemistryINRS researchers estimated that the Quebec subsoil contained “commercial quantities” of gaseous hydrogen.