In this plenary session, Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief of Science, will lay out the current challenges facing science in 2025 from the US federal government and the ongoing evolution of electronic publishing and artificial intelligence. After that, there will be a moderated conversation about the history and future of bioinorganic chemistry, showing how the field has always adapted to the times and will for years to come. The sound principles of science have served the field well, and it’s time to strengthen our commitment to those ideas in the face of unprecedented challenge.