National Geographic, February 2026

Now that beer is a multibillion-dollar industry, the biochemistry is more important than ever—to keep the taps flowing, but also to try to get ahead of a growing concern. People just aren't drinking as much alcohol as they used to. The solution just might be in a bottle in the laboratory of Kevin Verstrepen, a Belgian geneticist and director of the Leuven Institute of Beer Research. He’s an expert in yeast—in using it to untangle the basic molecular genetics of life and its evolution, but also is working to optimize and modify the yeast to concoct a beverage-industry holy grail: a nonalcoholic brew for beer lovers who hate nonalcoholic brews. Other features in this issue include:

How Brazil Went Country: With their national’s agricultural economy surging, Brazilians have fallen for the earner twang of sertanejo music—and the cowboy lifestyle it evangelizes.

Into the Kingdom of Seahorses: Seahorses have long been among the ocean’s more rarely glimpsed and little understood fish. Now researchers have found a curious Bahamian lagoon flush with them.

The Wolfkeepers: For nomadic Kazakh herders in Mongolia, hunting wolves is both a livestock-protecting necessity and a sacred responsibility.