Hybrid proteins face complex regulatory hurdles, and regulatory sandboxes could help balance safety, innovation, and consumer acceptance on their path to market, say Dr Alessandro Monaco and Prof Kai Purnhagen (University of Bayreuth, Germany)

Scaling hybrid proteins requires supportive policy and financing frameworks to reduce the hidden costs of the global food system while strengthening sustainability, resilience, and food security, says Dr Helena Wright (FAIRR Initiative, London, UK).

A growing number of Global South governments and academics are now calling for an international non-use agreement on solar geoengineering, says Prof Aarti Gupta of Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

The rights, leadership, and knowledge of Inuit Peoples must be foundational to geoengineering and other climate policies affecting their Homelands, ensuring meaningful participation and avoiding unfair burdens, emphasizes Sophie Crump, Inuit Circumpolar Council, Greenland.

The Earth BioGenome Project is scientifically viable and globally coordinated—but success now hinges on strategic policy leadership, sustained funding, and unrestricted data access, asserts Prof. Richard A. Gibbs, Baylor College of Medicine, USA.

A holistic, microbiome-informed approach to agrifood systems and childhood nutrition policies—rooted in global collaboration, evidence-building, and equitable innovation—can drive sustainable solutions to undernutrition and improve children’s health worldwide.

Dr. Abdelbagi M. Ismail explores how scientific innovations, strategic partnerships, and policy reforms, led by organizations like the International Rice Research Institute, are crucial for achieving sustainable food security in Africa and globally amid mounting environmental and population pressures.

Disruptive approaches such as NANOSPRESSO could help provide equitable access to advanced therapies for patients with rare diseases worldwide, as called for by the recent World Health Assembly Resolution on Rare Diseases, highlight Alexandra Heumber Perry and Debra Bellon.

Realistic opportunities to extend the human healthspan and ease the societal burden of aging-related diseases are emerging, but require long-term funding for infrastructures that support large-scale data collection and systems-based aging research, advocate Prof. Renaud Jolivet and colleagues.

Global health policies must prioritize investments in sepsis R&D as a cornerstone of pandemic preparedness and response, urge Dr Mariam Jashi, Global Sepsis Alliance, Georgia, and Prof Niranjan Kissoon, University of British Columbia, Canada.

Collaboration between science, medicine, policymakers, and societies is essential for tackling major health emergencies and pandemics, highlights Brigitte Autran of Sorbonne Université and President of the French Committee for Monitoring and Anticipating Health Risks (COVARS).

Capacity, access, data quality, and ethical issues must be addressed for global adoption of genomic surveillance, highlight Dr Stephen A Morse of IHRC Inc, USA, and Dr Segaran P Pillai of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Frederico Guanais at the Health Division of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) explains why we need to leverage synergies across policy domains to promote both environmental sustainability and public health.

Giriraj Amarnath from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka, discusses policy considerations for secure, equitable digital Twin Earths that proactively build resilience to extreme weather events.

International climate change and human rights lawyer, Tessa Khan, and policy advisor, Brook Dambacher, are calling for a rapid and just transition away from oil, gas and coal.