Stories we loved from 2025
It’s that time of year again: offices, labs and departments are slowing down for the holidays. To keep you entertained and inspired over the festive period, the Chemistry World team has selected some of our favourite stories from 2025.
The articles below include long reads covering fascinating areas of chemical research, important news stories, top tips for achieving your career goals, and much more.
January
January
On the trail of the male contraceptive pill
As multiple novel male contraception compounds enter clinical trials, is family planning about to undergo a second revolution? James Mitchell Crow reports
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Robots queuing up to fail
Claims of an AI revolution in drug discovery are missing the biggest problem
Super-powered science
Screaming fans excited about your research, the Sharpie on your lanyard for signing autographs – wouldn’t that be nice?
Wireless, light-powered device opens door to high-throughput electrosynthesis
‘Ingenious and creative solution’ to electrochemistry’s ‘horrible wiring problem’
February
February
Celebrating the often-overlooked skills developed in chemistry practical classes
Where else do you get such an opportunity to tinker with things?
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Designer protein performs multi-step catalysis with life-like performance
Computer-designed enzyme competitive with nature for the first time
Melanie Sanford’s route from college gymnast to groundbreaking researcher
One-time gymnast Melanie Sanford has made a name for herself in catalysis and organometallic chemistry. Rebecca Trager charts her path to success, from her mentors to her mentoring
Last year a top Syrian chemist was murdered. The problem is he never existed
Fake news about assassinated scientists was ‘disturbing and distressing’ for targets
March
March
From professional ballet dancer to quantum chemist
Creativity has been central to James Shee’s career across both art and science
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Chemists amid coronavirus five years on
Rebecca Trager catches up with four chemists to see how their working lives have changed since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic
Biomanufacturing proliferates in chemicals
Fermentation can improve sustainability at competitive costs
The glyphosate debate
The EU has recently approved the use of glyphosate for another decade. Bárbara Pinho examines the controversial pesticide’s presence in British farming and considers the possibility of a ban in the UK
April
April
What happens to our bodies after we die?
The decay and decomposition of a human body may be unpleasant to consider, but it can be crucial in criminal justice. Rupali Dabas talks to the forensic scientists developing techniques that can sniff out the truth
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Serbia limits academics’ research time to just one hour a day
Researchers say controversial policy will block majority of scientists from applying for grants
Epigenetic editors enter clinical trials
New wave of precision medicines amplify or silence genes, without altering genetic code
Bridging the gap after submitting a PhD thesis
Finding ways to fund students as they search for jobs and complete lab work for publications
May
Skeletal editing provides quick access to pharmaceutical ‘matching pairs’
Late-stage functional group switching in dibenzofurans will aid drug discovery chemistry
How safe and sustainable are period products?
Millions of people around the world use period products every month. Bárbara Pinho finds out what their environmental footprint is and whether they carry chemicals harmful to human health
‘I worked on it little by little, with the help of a beer’: Making MOFs out of paper
Chemistry World talks to Ryo Horikoshi about engaging students with chemistry concepts using his stunning paper models
2025 news and research in review
Researchers around the world have faced a tough year as many countries have frozen or even cut funding, but despite these pressures there has still been plenty of exciting science on show as AI and machine learning continue to make waves in the field.
Chemistry department woes, Trump, Gen AI and pollution capture headlines in 2025
The stories that dominated the news this year
AI continues to make waves and structural editing impresses in 2025
The research that has amazed and amused us this year
2025 industry in review
Geopolitical turbulence has rocked both pharmaceuticals and chemicals industries this year, with trade tariffs and regulatory upheaval in pharmaceuticals, while nationalist growth strategies in China and elsewhere have exacerbated pressure on chemicals producers - particularly in Europe.
June
June
How to find out if your magnetic stirrer is affecting your results – and how to fix it
Valentine Ananikov explains how the humble stirrer bar may be altering your results
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Congo’s cobalt conundrum
DRC government is intervening to revive prices and stabilise supply chains
The young female astronomer who worked out what the sun is made of
100 years ago, Cecilia Payne deduced that the sun is mainly made of hydrogen – but was encouraged to downplay her findings by her PhD supervisor. Mike Sutton takes up the story
Benzene’s 200-year legacy of transformation
As we celebrate the anniversary of benzene’s isolation, we must remember that scientific centenaries carry additional agendas
July
July
Two more European crackers to close
Sabic will not reopen UK plant and Dow will close another in Germany
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Organometallic compound found to break textbook principle
A ferrocene-derived complex is a further exception to the 18-electron rule
How to excel at public speaking
A five-step approach to present effectively
Science retracts controversial ‘arsenic life’ paper 15 years after it was published
Contentious study continues to make waves as authors and researchers argue over whether action is proportionate and beneficial
August
August
How stable isotope analysis reveals what ancient humans and Neanderthals ate
Analytical chemistry can tell us what our ancestors ate thousands – or even millions – of years ago. Rachel Brazil gets her teeth into the evidence
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Ure’s steam bath
A heating device from a fan of heated disputes
How to use an individual development plan to advance your career
Four steps to assess your current position and set your goals
The challenge of developing oral alternatives to peptide weight loss drugs
Companies are racing to develop alternatives to injectable diabetes and weight loss drugs
September
September
Comic book chemistry
The scientists using visual storytelling to communicate their work – and how you can do it too
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UK biofuels production collapsing in face of cheap imports
Bioethanol plants closing after US tariffs removed, while biodiesel faces competition from China
From flying ointments to healing herbs: the forgotten chemistry behind historical witchcraft practices
The unusual concoctions of village witches have historically been dismissed as nonsense hocus pocus – but is this the whole story? Victoria Atkinson investigates the chemistry behind the myth and whether there was more to witchcraft than ritual and superstition
Reviving organobismuth chemistry
Despite its low cost and low toxicity, bismuth has found limited applications in organic synthesis. Liam Ball is working to change that
October
October
How the pioneers of metal-organic frameworks won the Nobel prize
From wooden models to thousands and thousands of structures, Julia Robinson tells the story of how Richard Robson, Susumu Kitagawa and Omar Yaghi won the 2025 Nobel prize in chemistry
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Starting a chemistry PhD as a mature student
The benefits and challenges of returning to academia after a period away
Quantum tunnelling drives aromaticity flip-flop
Augmented pentalene structure could be a molecular Schrödinger’s cat, aromatic and antiaromatic at the same time
The chemistry community should ban drawing chemical structures with generative AI, chemists warn
AIs like Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT still make serious errors rendering structural formulae
November
November
The chemistry of port
In Portugal’s Douro valley, centuries-old winemaking traditions meet modern chemistry to create a sweet and intense fortified wine. Bárbara Pinho talks to the experts about the compounds and reactions behind a festive favourite
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The art of hosting successful chemical plant visits
Hosting visitors is fun and requires a lot of preparation
The chemist who commemorates lab discoveries on his body
University of Nebraska’s drug design centre director is communicating his team’s scientific breakthroughs with tattoos and now has 29 on his arm
Suppressing side reactions brings efficiency boosts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis
Two new strategies tackle Fischer–Tropsch’s problematic side reactions
December
December
What next for open access as Coalition S scales back its ambitions?
While scientific publishing is far more open than when the consortium launched seven years ago, it is still far more closed than it was aiming for
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What’s on your lab technology wish list?
Once-magical tools are now mundane. What will the next miracles be?
I was almost robbed of my love for chemistry – but I fought my way back
An abusive lab member made my dream course a nightmare. By speaking up, I’m reclaiming my joy
The Antarctic manganese mystery
RRS Sir David Attenborough scientists are trying to measure the potentially crucial role of ocean manganese, finds Andy Extance. But how do you do cutting-edge science in the inhospitable Southern Ocean?