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.
BusinessMerck & Co identifies nitrosamine source in diabetes drugs
Investigation uncovers the cause of contamination in sitagliptin medicines, but the wider nitrosamine problem is ballooning
- Research
AI model accurately classifies reaction mechanisms
Machine learning ‘surpasses chemist experts’ in identifying chemical processes
- Feature
The 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
- Feature
How 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
- Feature
Life’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
- Research
Vibrational reactivity control harnesses quantum realm to speed up chemistry
‘Quantum phase control’ supercharges reaction between chlorine and singly deuterated methane at ambient temperature
- Research
Unusual hydrogen bonds found in proteins help them bind their targets
Weak interactions between hydrogen and carbon atoms have synthetic chemistry implications
- Business
Patent office cements priority for Crispr gene editing in cells
Nobel laureates’ failed challenge means companies may need extra patent licenses
- Research
Vibrational spectroscopy distinguishes different diffusing isotopes
Scanning transmission electron microscopy-based method tracks graphene growth with atomic precision
- Research
IBM teaches reaction planning system to ‘speak enzyme’
RXN seeks to use enzyme catalysis to make chemistry more sustainable and resource efficient
- Research
Swimming molecules come under intense scrutiny
Discoverers of enhanced diffusion in click cycloaddition reactions stand firm after other groups say they can’t reproduce the findings
- Feature
How ammonia could decarbonise shipping
Andy Extance discovers why the compound best known as a fertiliser is a surprising candidate to power enormous container ships
- Feature
How a virus ancestor powers our memory’s chemistry
Andy Extance tells the astonishing story of the Arc protein and its capsid forms, and the questions it poses
- Research
Neural network scours vast chemical space to design drug-delivering peptides
Oligonucleotide drug activity boosted 50-fold with peptide designed by machine learning algorithm
- News
Machine learning delivers ‘human genome’ moment for proteins
Protein structure prediction tools AlphaFold and RoseTTAFold take the latest steps towards maturity and make their software open source
- Research
Electrochemical DNA on a chip sensor detects bacterial urinary tract infections faster
Synthetic nucleic acid probes combine with tiny star-shaped electrodes tests for bacteria in less than an hour
- News
Scientists build case for a UK x-ray laser more advanced than any in the world
Support sought for facility with higher quality, shorter pulses, to begin operation after 2030
- Feature
Computer-guided retrosynthesis
Machine learning-based systems hope to outperform expert-guided reaction planning technology, finds Andy Extance
- Research
Nitrogen deletion reaction offers ‘new way to think about molecular editing’
Reagent inspired by decades-old research could save chemists a lot of headache when it comes to modifying molecules’ skeleton
- Research
Rapidly alternating polarity stars in selective electrochemical reduction
Rapidly fluctuating AC targets specific carbonyl groups in the presence of several reducible groups
