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.
ResearchMechanochemistry makes gold salts that are soluble in organic solvents
No need for aqua regia, chlorine or mercury in this gold processing method
- Research
Ancient microbial natural products reconstructed from Neanderthal dental plaques
Palaeogenomic approach allows natural product researchers to ‘go back in time’
- News
Overlooked documents shed new light on double helix discovery
Rosalind Franklin was more than just a ‘wronged heroine’
- Research
Orange climbers make fluorescent blue molecules
Naturally occurring aggregation-induced emission luminogens could find use in biomedical imaging
- Research
Biocatalytic biobots brew beer better
Encapsulated yeast and iron nanoparticles enhance beer fermentation through self-propelled oscillatory motion and easy magnetic retrieval
- Research
NMR reveals sialic acid biosynthesis in real time
Using NMR, scientists can directly measure sialic acid enzyme conversion velocities for the first time
