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.
FeatureHow decarbonisation will help the UK’s last refineries survive
Carbon capture and low-carbon hydrogen are central to any possibility of supplying liquid fuels compatible with net zero, reports Andy Extance
NewsWhat are the prospects for making green hydrogen straight from seawater?
Competing with better-established desalination coupled with electrolysis, direct seawater splitting technologies are targeting niches
ResearchReprocess, reuse, repeat: greener recycling of perovskite solar cells cuts costs
Mainly water-based approach is also cheaper than using new starting materials
FeatureThe promise of drugs that send proteins to the shredder
Andy Extance charts how research into revolutionary targeted protein degradation therapies is moving from serendipity to strategic discovery
ResearchGPT-based AI tool predicts inorganic crystal structures
CrystaLLM uses GPT to arrange atoms, turning text-based data into numerical tokens
FeatureA mouthful of mouthfeel
Andy Extance learns how the chemicals in food and drink create sensual culinary experiences
ResearchVisible light-powered catalysts clean up ‘forever chemicals’
Organic photoredox catalysts show promise for fluorinated pollutants
FeatureClearing up the compostable plastic mess
Rather than a potential triumph, the compostable plastics we use look increasingly like a tragedy. Andy Extance looks at the problems and seeks solutions
ResearchProteins with multiple structures open up AlphaFold’s black box
AI prediction model often fails to identify fold-switching, helping show how it works and the limits of its usefulness
FeatureHow satellite remote sensing is enhancing our understanding of Earth
Instruments in space have studied the planet’s atmosphere and surface, and are now being joined by powerful new ones, finds Andy Extance
BusinessMDMA rejection poses questions for psychedelic drug trials
Decision prompts reflection over how psychotherapy is involved, regulating combination treatments and safeguarding patients
ResearchAI tool outperforms existing x-ray structure methods
Deep learning approach determines phase of diffracted beams with lower-quality data
FeatureHow a new strategy aims to break the catalytic speed limit
The Sabatier principle normally defines the maximum reaction rate enabled by catalyst materials, but scientists now think that they can go even faster, explains Andy Extance
ResearchThe catalyst speedup toolkit
A rundown of the various strategies scientists are exploring to cheat the Sabatier limit
NewsHow can your lab cut water use in reflux reactions?
Practical advice builds on a new study comparing air-cooled condensers
FeatureBrain chemistry basics
Andy Extance looks into the latest in Alzheimer’s disease, pain and memory
FeatureWhy don’t we know how antidepressants work yet?
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are at the centre of a collision between social and biochemical outlooks on depression, finds Andy Extance
ResearchElectronic cooling device is part fridge, part muscle
Soft polymer material flexes to move heat between surfaces
ResearchScreening reveals thousands of ‘undrugged, yet druggable’ proteins
Collaboration involving Pfizer develops freely accessible AI tool to probe protein–compound interactions
ResearchFirst mirror-image cyclodextrins come together ‘like Lego’
L-enantiomers could be more stable than their existing, more common, forms