Ada McVean
I started at Chemistry World in February 2023 after moving to the UK in September 2022, just one month after finishing my Masters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, at McGill University. My degrees are in bio-organic chemistry and gender and social justice studies. My thesis focused on oligonucleotide chemistry, specifically characterizing small nucleic acid-based inhibitors Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 using click chemistry.
I've been a science writer since 2016 and have worked with the McGill Office for Science and Society, Skeptical Inquirer, SciMoms, Atlas Obscura and now Chemistry World.
My education is in chemistry, but I've never met a type of science I didn't want to know more about. I am particularly interested in veterinary medicine, mechanochemistry and pharmacology, as well as misinformation and myth-busting.
ResearchThianthrenium reagent captures elusive protein interactions in living cells
Reagent creates short, stable protein crosslinks, enabling researchers to identify previously unknown protein–protein interactions
OpinionOdile Eisenstein: ‘Some of the most important advice is to be persistent’
The pioneering theoretical chemist on teaching herself programming and the importance of freedom
OpinionNora de Leeuw: ‘Some of my best PhD students weren’t that great at passing exams’
The computational chemist on perspectives from outside academia and the importance of inquisitiveness
ResearchLichen sunscreen blocks extreme UV radiation and might enhance cosmetics, materials
Discovery also suggests that photosynthetic life might survive on planets circling powerful stars
ResearchMammoth task of identifying legal ivory made simpler and cheaper by isotope analysis
Technique could help authorities tell legal mammoth ivory from poached elephant ivory
NewsExplainer: Why is the UK banning disposable vapes?
Prior to the ban, almost seventy million single-use e-cigarettes were being discarded each year in the UK – containing enough lithium for a thousand electric vehicle batteries
ResearchSnuff tube residues push back date of oldest hallucinogen use in Peruvian Andes
Chemical analysis reveals traces of a number of psychoactive compounds thought to have been used to secure leaders’ status
ResearchMiso fermented on the International Space Station is out of this world
Space paste had a nuttier taste than its earthly counterparts thanks to speedier chemistry
ResearchForbidden electrocyclic reactions can be more allowed than previously thought
Study suggests such reactions should instead be described as either ‘Woodward–Hoffmann favoured’ or ‘Woodward–Hoffmann disfavoured’
ResearchAncient Vesuvius victim’s brain contains first natural organic glass ever seen
Extreme heating followed by rapid cooling formed unique material in a Herculaneum man
ResearchMystery of how polar bears keep their coats ice free unravelled
Analysis of fur sebum could inspire new icephobic coatings
ResearchQuick test could catch fatal tick fever before it’s too late
Lateral flow test diagnosed fatal disease in animal model before symptoms appeared
ResearchIsotope analysis reveals ‘mundane’ origins of remarkable dinosaur fossil site
Collapsing burrows, not volcanoes, killed the dinosaurs in China’s Yixian Formation
ResearchNanoscale peaks and valleys create long-lasting frost-resistant surfaces
Treatment could protect energy infrastructure and heat exchangers
ResearchEasy to remove tag could make mRNA synthesis for vaccines quicker and cheaper
Chemical synthesis takes another step towards overtaking more complex enzymatic routes
NewsThe fate of Nobel prize medals
Over the years, Nobel prize medals have been stolen, dissolved and auctioned off. We trace what happened to them and the stories they can tell us
ResearchYellow food dye could give doctors a new way to look beneath the skin
Tartrazine can safely and reversibly turn the skin of mice transparent
ResearchDiscovery of ‘NO burst’ could help save world’s favourite banana from deadly fungus
Fungus found to flood host with nitric oxide to beat plants’ immune system
ResearchStonehenge Altar stone likely came from Scotland, not Wales
Mineral analysis matches sandstones from over 750km away
OpinionIjeoma Uchegbu: ‘My approach is always to be kind’
The innovative nanoscientist on the power of kindness and how she scrubbed eugenicists from campus buildings