Decoding 23andMe’s downfall
DNA testing firm’s bankruptcy raises data security questions
Welcome to the MegaPharm target selection and project resourcing meeting
Overheard recently in a seminar room near you…
Paul Alivisatos: ‘Physical chemistry brought me back into the fold’
The nanomaterials pioneer talks about coming from a family of immigrants, wandering as an undergraduate and finding his compass
New materials for sustainable fabrics
Textiles based on agricultural waste, algae and fungi are being developed to improve the environmental impact of the fashion industry
Paneth’s mirrors and the isolation of methyl radicals
Laying the groundwork for the study of combustion and photochemical reactions
Why the chemistry community needs to engage with curriculum reviews
A-level grade boundaries are one source of dissatisfaction for chemistry educators
Exploring the on-screen image of chemists
From Frankenstein to Breaking Bad and beyond
What makes a good lab manager?
The planning and people skills needed to keep everything running smoothly
Our columnists
Philip Ball is an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster who explores the history and philosophy of chemistry
‘Ageing’ cellular blobs could be linked to neurodegenerative diseases
Over time biomolecular condensates’ redox activity drops and tangled aggregates linked to conditions like Alzheimer’s build-up
Raychelle Burks is an associate professor in the US and an award-winning science communicator and broadcaster.
Read my lipstick
The forensic techniques distinguishing between cosmetic details
Nessa Carson is a synthetic organic research chemist based in Macclesfield, UK
The right level of trust in the scientific literature
An overreliance on what’s gone before can hinder innovation
Chemjobber is a US-based industry insider, telling tales of tank reactors and organic obstacles
Are you fooling yourself?
Charles Piller’s Doctored and the reality of falsehoods in science
Derek Lowe is a medicinal chemist in the US, sharing wit and wisdom from a life spent in preclinical drug discovery
Welcome to the MegaPharm target selection and project resourcing meeting
Overheard recently in a seminar room near you…
Alice Motion is an associate professor in Australia interested in citizen science, public outreach and education
A spectrum of citizen science
The backyard astronomer mapping Jupiter’s atmosphere
Chris Nawrat (aka BRSM) is a process chemist at a major pharmaceutical company in the US
(–)-Scabrolide B (again!)
Proverbially, comparison may not bring joy – but it can be educational
Vanessa Seifert explores philosophical issues from the novel perspective of chemistry
Classifications, racial discrimination and Covid-19
Lessons with philosophical significance for how we group people and objects
Andrea Sella is a professor of inorganic chemistry in the UK with a passion for unravelling the unlikely origins of scientific kit
Paneth’s mirrors and the isolation of methyl radicals
Laying the groundwork for the study of combustion and photochemical reactions
Research landscape
Chemists amid coronavirus five years on: Krystle McLaughlin
An assistant chemistry professor at a small college in New York gets her career back on track, thanks to a tenure clock extension and teaching release
Chemists amid coronavirus five years on: Liang Zhang
Lockdown gave a young chemistry professor in China the space and time to consider the most worthwhile projects, and that has benefited his team
Putting research on the chopping block risks mortgaging countries’ futures
Many countries in the global north are taking a short-sighted approach to their science budgets
Forming bonds through Covid-19
How studying chemistry helped ward off loneliness during the pandemic
The right level of trust in the scientific literature
An overreliance on what’s gone before can hinder innovation
The value of research is measured in many ways
Academia is a broad church
Extracting treasure from trash
The corpus of scientific literature needs a drastic clean-up
Industry landscape
Decoding 23andMe’s downfall
DNA testing firm’s bankruptcy raises data security questions
Decoding 23andMe’s downfall
DNA testing firm’s bankruptcy raises data security questions
They break it, we all pay for it
GK Chesterton’s legacy goes beyond his Father Brown detective novels and explains why tearing down institutions harms us all
Getting into the weeds of the glyphosate debate
Assessments of the risk posed by the controversial herbicide depend on how the evidence is weighed
Letters: April 2025
Readers highlight Serbian opposition to lithium mining, the need for more practical chemistry, and the influence of the Greek alphabet
Profiles
From professional ballet dancer to quantum chemist
Creativity has been central to James Shee’s career across both art and science
Paul Alivisatos: ‘Physical chemistry brought me back into the fold’
The nanomaterials pioneer talks about coming from a family of immigrants, wandering as an undergraduate and finding his compass
Hidden from view: being a scientific advisor for the emergency services
Stephen Yao’s expertise helps the emergency services deal with chemical incidents
Hidden from view: being a scientific advisor for the emergency services
Stephen Yao’s expertise helps the emergency services deal with chemical incidents
Sara Shinton’s career developing research leaders
UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellows Development Network director is on a mission to improve research culture through good leadership
This nanotechnology expert works with both plant and brain cells
Could Markita Landry’s research group be any more interdisciplinary?
Donna Nelson: ‘Being the science advisor to Breaking Bad was so much fun’
The well-known organic chemist on growing up in a small Oklahoma town, asking demographic questions and advising a hit television series
Working towards an Australian First Nations periodic table
Zahra Khan finds out how a team of scholars is working with the Gadigal to develop a chart that celebrates Indigenous knowledge of the chemical elements
New materials for sustainable fabrics
By Siham Sulieman
Textiles based on agricultural waste, algae and fungi are being developed to improve the environmental impact of the fashion industry
My summer writing for Chemistry World
By Rupo Mapanga
Rupo Mapanga on being a science writer intern at the Royal Society of Chemistry