A one-year-old baby boy has been named as one of the most influential people in science for 2025.
Nature Magazine announced its annual list of 10 people who shaped science on Tuesday, and unlike the physicists, geoscientists and biologists that made the list, one-year-old KJ Muldoon is just a boy from Pennsylvania, US.
KJ, born in August 2024, was diagnosed with an incredibly rare, deadly genetic disease called carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase 1 deficiency.
The “one in a million” metabolic condition can cause brain damage and death especially in infants, with around 50 per cent of babies diagnosed with the disease dying in early infancy.
Doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia developed a personalised CRISPR gene-editing treatment in a bid to save seven-month-old KJ’s life, administering the first of three infusions in February.
The therapy appeared to work quickly, with KJ gaining weight and improving steadily, making him the first patient to successfully receive this tailored CRISPR approach.
After spending 307 days in hospital, he was finally able to go home in June.
“He’s always smiling,” KJ’s mum Nicole Aaron told Nature.
KJ’s doctors paediatrician Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas and cardiologist Kiran Musunuru are now working on clinical trials to help more children with the disease.
Other “Nature’s 10” honourees included geoscientist Mengran Du, who explored new deep-sea ecosystems; agricultural researcher Luciano Moreira, who opened a facility producing disease-blocking mosquitoes; and microbiologist Susan Monarez, recognised for standing up to the Trump administration despite losing her role at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Image: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
