image: Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025 co-published by the World Economic Forum and Frontiers
Credit: World Economic Forum
Cutting-edge technologies addressing climate, healthcare, and digital authenticity are spotlighted in the report co-published by the World Economic Forum and Frontiers. Pooling the expertise of hundreds of leading scientists from around the world, the report identifies early-stage technologies with the potential to become fully developed and adopted within the next five years.
The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Frontiers, today unveiled the new Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025 report. As the official knowledge partner, Frontiers brings editorial expertise and data-driven insights to this year's report, which highlights technologies with the greatest potential to accelerate progress on some of the world's most urgent challenges – from climate and healthcare to infrastructure and digital trust.
The 2025 top ten emerging technologies that are poised to contribute most significantly to the development of new industries and markets and be widely adopted in the next three to five years are:
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Autonomous Biochemical Sensing
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Collaborative Sensing
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Engineered Living Therapeutics
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Generative Watermarking
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GLP-1s for Neurodegenerative Diseases
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Green Nitrogen Fixation
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Nanozymes
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Next-gen Nuclear Energy
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Osmotic Power Systems
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Structural Battery Composites
These technologies reflect an increasing convergence between biology, materials science, and artificial intelligence. In a world facing escalating climate risks, an aging population, food insecurity, and the rise of digital misinformation, these innovations represent more than technological progress – they represent real, scalable solutions for resilience, health, and equity.
Generative Watermarking: Digital trust in the age of AI
Among this year's transformative technologies is generative watermarking – an invisible layer of trust embedded directly into AI-generated content. As synthetic text, video, and images become indistinguishable from human-created media, this innovation allows content to be traced back to its source, helping combat disinformation and protect intellectual property. With digital authenticity under growing threat, watermarking offers a much-needed foundation for accountability and provenance in the age of generative AI.
Autonomous Biochemical Sensors: Smart detection for health and the planet
In health, autonomous biochemical sensors are opening new frontiers in diagnostics and environmental monitoring. These smart devices can detect changes at the molecular level – from DNA to toxins – without human intervention. Their integration into healthcare, agriculture, and water systems could usher in a new era of early detection and preventative action, especially in remote or resource-limited settings.
GLP-1s for Neurodegenerative Diseases: A metabolic key to brain health
Another promising development comes from the convergence of metabolic medicine and neuroscience. Drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs), initially developed to treat diabetes, are now being investigated for their potential to slow cognitive decline in conditions such as Alzheimer's. By targeting inflammation and metabolic dysfunction in the brain, these therapies could fundamentally shift the timeline of neurodegenerative diseases – from late-stage treatment to early intervention.
Green Nitrogen Fixation: Reinventing fertilizer for a low-carbon future
And in the push toward sustainability, green nitrogen fixation is reimagining how we feed the planet. Long reliant on the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process, ammonia production is undergoing a quiet revolution with new technologies that use electricity, light, or microbes to create fertilizers with far fewer emissions. These approaches are now moving from lab to pilot scale, offering a cleaner path for global agriculture.
Methodology and Transformation Maps: Navigating the future with data-driven insight
The Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025 is the product of a unique process shaped by experts from the World Economic Forum's Global Future Councils, Frontiers’ global network of chief editors, representing leading academic institutions, and report steering committee members. Over 250 technologies were submitted and evaluated through a multi-phase methodology combining peer-reviewed evidence, citation analysis, and expert consensus to identify those with the greatest potential for transformation.
To support long-term strategic planning, Frontiers’ chief editors co-developed a series of Transformation Maps, hosted on the Forum's Strategic Intelligence Platform. These interactive tools help visualize how each technology connects to global systems and highlight opportunities for cross-sector collaboration and impact.
By combining editorial leadership, scientific insight, and advanced digital foresight tools, Frontiers and the World Economic Forum ensure the report reflects the latest insights from the forefront of research and translates that knowledge into actionable guidance for business leaders, policymakers, and society at large.
Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, said:
“Scientific and technological breakthroughs are advancing rapidly, even as the global environment for innovation grows more complex. The research provides top global leaders with a clear view of which technologies are approaching readiness, how they could solve the world’s pressing problems and what’s required to bring them to scale responsibly.”
Frederick Fenter, Frontiers’ Chief Executive Editor, commented:
“The path from breakthrough research to tangible societal progress depends on transparency, collaboration, and open science. Together with the World Economic Forum, we have once again delivered trusted, evidence-based insights on emerging technologies that will shape a better future for all."