Andy Extance
Before becoming a full-time science writer, Andy Extance worked for six and a half years in early-stage drug discovery research, followed by brief stint in silicone adhesive and rubber manufacturing.
However, when he had his first feature – on a cause of common heart-related problems in new drug candidates – published in Chemistry World in 2004, the course of his career shifted. After working as news editor for Compound Semiconductor magazine, he went freelance in 2009. Today Andy’s science writing explores everything related to chemistry, from Earth’s environment to space, from food to fusion, and from solar cells to how we smell.
FeatureReaching into the non-covalent toolbox
Alongside supramolecular stalwarts, budding bonding forms are vying to be valuable, finds Andy Extance
FeatureUsing DNA evidence to picture suspects
Forensic DNA phenotyping predicts people’s appearance and reveals their ancestry, finds Andy Extance, but has some significant challenges to overcome
BusinessPositive trial sets stage for therapeutic use of MDMA in US
Hallucinogen-assisted psychiatric treatment heads to regulators, amid cost and other concerns
FeatureThe drug developers fighting the antibiotic resistance problem
Andy Extance talks to the researchers innovating across different drug classes in the hunt to develop new treatments
FeatureCan biorefineries eliminate fossil fuels and petrochemicals?
Plans to develop the world’s largest vegetable oil refinery reveal diverging views on the sustainability, profitability and scale of plant-based supply chains, finds Andy Extance
ResearchOrganic catalyst could cut the chlor-alkali process’s enormous appetite for energy
Cheap molecule achieves similar performance as existing costly metallic catalysts – but faces major questions about its stability
NewsNew results vindicate suspect 63-year-old claim on synthesis of first catenane
Researchers hoping to debunk Edel Wasserman’s doubted claims of the first interlinked rings end up supporting them
ResearchRapid alternating polarity brings new life to 189-year-old electrochemical reaction
A more sustainable approach to the Kolbe reaction could reduce chemists’ reliance on oil-derived materials
ResearchMachine learning ecosystem evolves MOF design
Mofdscribe handles all stages from collecting data to evaluating performance
ResearchRecord room-temperature superconductor could boost quantum computer chips
New material reduces pressures needed more than a hundredfold, but experts urge caution over structural questions and previously retracted research
NewsUK begins exploration of whether to build its own billion-pound-plus XFEL
Advanced designs could transform x-ray science economics, reducing the cost per experiment
NewsUS accelerator accident hospitalises worker, delays XFEL startup
The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory lab director has stood down after the latest in a series of safety incidents and complaints
BusinessMerck & Co identifies nitrosamine source in diabetes drugs
Investigation uncovers the cause of contamination in sitagliptin medicines, but the wider nitrosamine problem is ballooning
ResearchAI model accurately classifies reaction mechanisms
Machine learning ‘surpasses chemist experts’ in identifying chemical processes
FeatureThe brain chemicals that control what we enjoy
Researchers are trying to understand how orexins influence our appetites, and whether we can use them to treat addiction and obesity, explains Andy Extance
FeatureHow a murder and a bombing cleaned up DNA profiling
The UK pioneered a forensic process to identify suspects from tiny amounts of DNA, but occasional flaws had big consequences. Andy Extance pieces together the whole story for the first time
FeatureLife’s chemistry goes through the looking glass
Chemists were taught that natural systems only use L-amino acids. Andy Extance finds out just how wrong that is proving
ResearchVibrational reactivity control harnesses quantum realm to speed up chemistry
‘Quantum phase control’ supercharges reaction between chlorine and singly deuterated methane at ambient temperature
ResearchUnusual hydrogen bonds found in proteins help them bind their targets
Weak interactions between hydrogen and carbon atoms have synthetic chemistry implications
BusinessPatent office cements priority for Crispr gene editing in cells
Nobel laureates’ failed challenge means companies may need extra patent licenses