Collective interactions dominate gene regulation in eukaryotes
A new technique shows DNA binding domains are not central to transcription factor targeting in human cells, unlike in bacteria
The scientific career clock in China
Age limits on funding and recruitment programmes place unhelpful pressures on early-career researchers
Iran ceasefire is the start of a long recovery process
Conflict’s impact on global energy and chemicals supply chains will take significantly longer to resolve
How my master’s reshaped my view on higher education chemistry
After three relentless undergraduate years, the fourth year provided space to immerse myself in the subject
US chemists worried by chilling effects of Trump’s second term
Researchers are concerned about funding cuts and self-censorship
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
Our columnists
Philip Ball is an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster who explores the history and philosophy of chemistry
Collective interactions dominate gene regulation in eukaryotes
A new technique shows DNA binding domains are not central to transcription factor targeting in human cells, unlike in bacteria
Raychelle Burks is an associate professor in the US and an award-winning science communicator and broadcaster.
Experimenting with murder
A criminal mastermind made sure their unusual poison attack would be fatal
Nessa Carson is a synthetic organic research chemist based in Macclesfield, UK
Learning computational chemistry in a new role
A change of team brings new opportunities to build knowledge
Chemjobber is a US-based industry insider, telling tales of tank reactors and organic obstacles
Traffic jams in the chemical plant
What happens between a big order coming in and going out?
Derek Lowe is a medicinal chemist in the US, sharing wit and wisdom from a life spent in preclinical drug discovery
‘The truth is supremely valuable and we cannot lie our way to it’
As a scientist with family in Iran, Derek Lowe finds his own government’s approach to truth alarming
Chris Nawrat (aka BRSM) is a process chemist at a major pharmaceutical company in the US
(+)-Melicolone K
Sequential C–H activations open up the opportunity for an unusual transformation
Vanessa Seifert explores philosophical issues from the novel perspective of chemistry
Chemistry has always been women’s business
Female chemists played essential roles in developing chemical practice
Andrea Sella is a professor of inorganic chemistry in the UK with a passion for unravelling the unlikely origins of scientific kit
Alfred Wilm and the hardening of metals
How do you prepare for a so-called accidental discovery?
Research landscape
The scientific career clock in China
Age limits on funding and recruitment programmes place unhelpful pressures on early-career researchers
As a first-generation student, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing
And that brought challenges and unexpected opportunites
The chemist anthropologist
What new species remain to be discovered in the lab?
Some voices conspicuously silent when it comes to Trump’s science policies
Research-intensive universities have been targeted in an unprecedented and unrelenting manner since Donald Trump retook the White House on 20 January. In April, nearly a third of the 6000-plus members of the US National Academies of Sciences, which is a nonpartisan organisation charged with providing evidence-based science and technology advice ...
Drowning in a sea of fakery
Addressing rising fraud in the scientific literature is a huge issue that AI is set to exacerbate
Letters: September 2025
Readers discuss negative results, chemistry cold spots and more
What I learned from going back to university in my 30s
Advice for the young student (at heart)
Industry landscape
Iran ceasefire is the start of a long recovery process
Conflict’s impact on global energy and chemicals supply chains will take significantly longer to resolve
Iran ceasefire is the start of a long recovery process
Conflict’s impact on global energy and chemicals supply chains will take significantly longer to resolve
India’s generic semaglutide surge
As patents on Novo Nordisk’s diabetes and weight loss blockbusters expire, generic makers have their versions ready
Chemical recycling of plastics rises as oil crisis continues
Recovering feedstocks from hard-to-recycle plastic is potentially important in a more circular plastic economy
Letters: March 2026
Readers discuss the long-lasting effects of sabotage, a mix-up of Maxes, and how PFAS regulations might affect inhalers
Profiles
Using light to push stereochemistry uphill
While chemistry usually follows the downhill pull of thermodynamics, Alison Wendlandt is creating higher‑energy stereoisomers in the final stages of synthesis
Bursting bubbles break down PFAS
Mantisonix is using ultrasound to destroy fluorochemical pollutants in water
Steve Liddle: ‘Try and do something different to what everyone else is doing’
The organometallic chemist on working with the f-elements, following your instinct and remaining grounded
Steve Liddle: ‘Try and do something different to what everyone else is doing’
The organometallic chemist on working with the f-elements, following your instinct and remaining grounded
Breaking bonds and bringing disciplines together to replace one of chemistry’s most controversial molecules
Rebecca Trager meets an organic chemist catalysing the search for BPA replacements by connecting synthetic chemists, data scientists, toxicologists and polymer chemists
Veronica Vaida: ‘Some Harvard faculty expressed puzzlement at having a woman colleague’
The renowned physical chemist and environmental scientist on growing up in Romania and forging her career as a woman in the US in the 1970s
Embodying polymer chemistry with a purpose by upcycling plastics and trapping PFAS
For Frank Leibfarth, focussing on reactivity and selectivity helps him bridge the gap between fundamental and applied research
Rethinking hydrogen peroxide production
Hydro-Oxy and Addible both aim to transform how industry produces and uses a ubiquitous oxidant.
The scientific career clock in China
By Xinyue Gao
Age limits on funding and recruitment programmes place unhelpful pressures on early-career researchers
The summer I became a science journalist
By Mason Wakley
Mason Wakley on being a science writer intern at the Royal Society of Chemistry