It’s time for consensus on science’s place in government
The latest shake-up of UK science policy oversight brings uncertainty to a sector that needs stability to succeed
Early lessons from the Garden Grove chemical incident
A runaway polymerisation raises questions about safety measures and their backups
Trust is easily broken and hard to rebuild
Thermo Fisher needs to be open and honest about data manipulation to reassure researchers
‘Science felt like a level playing field’: in situ with Anthony Cheetham
The materials chemist on being a scientific contrarian, his love of cricket, and what AI might mean for materials science
How the UK’s defence laboratory keeps the world safe from the threat of chemical weapons
DSTL has been supporting investigations into the use of chemical weapons for over 25 years - here’s how it does its job
Is industry getting more or less safe?
Should the EU stop exports of pesticides it has banned?
The art of not letting the lab burn down
Could AI undermine our (belief in the truth of) scientific theories?
Jonathan Clayden: ‘I like to feel that we have set the curriculum rather than followed the curriculum’
The current academic system doesn’t incentivise risk-taking
But playing it safe can have negative consequences for a field
The evolving landscape of pain drug discovery
Harnessing the power of human-relevant in vitro models
The scientific career clock in China
Age limits on funding and recruitment programmes place unhelpful pressures on early-career researchers
Our columnists
Philip Ball is an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster who explores the history and philosophy of chemistry
Would mirror life really threaten our own?
New modelling suggests that even if we could create cells based on mirror-image biomolecules, their natural counterparts would outcompete them in the wild
Raychelle Burks is an associate professor in the US and an award-winning science communicator and broadcaster.
Strands of investigation
LC–MS/MS techniques applied to hair can provide some answers when other analytical techniques aren’t possible
Nessa Carson is a synthetic organic research chemist based in Macclesfield, UK
Implementing ideas in industry
An initial thought can take on a life of its own as different stakeholders contribute their expertise
Chemjobber is a US-based industry insider, telling tales of tank reactors and organic obstacles
Early lessons from the Garden Grove chemical incident
A runaway polymerisation raises questions about safety measures and their backups
Derek Lowe is a medicinal chemist in the US, sharing wit and wisdom from a life spent in preclinical drug discovery
What kinds of reactions do you do most?
Variety may be the spice of life, but there’s space for the boring but effective
Chris Nawrat (aka BRSM) is a process chemist at a major pharmaceutical company in the US
(±)-Conidiogenone B
A beautiful synthesis that measures up to an ideal
Vanessa Seifert explores philosophical issues from the novel perspective of chemistry
Could AI undermine our (belief in the truth of) scientific theories?
Artificial intelligence models that make predictions based solely on data present problems for philosophers
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
Why I think it’s time to change how we teach the inductive effect
New evidence challenges the idea of long‑range inductive transmission, highlighting that some textbook explanations of inductive effects are oversimplified and, in key cases, completely wrong
Africa should treat entrepreneurial science as a lifeline, not a luxury
Synchronised action from universities, policymakers and scientists is needed to bridge the gap from ideas to impact
The current academic system doesn’t incentivise risk-taking
But playing it safe can have negative consequences for a field
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
Industry landscape
Early lessons from the Garden Grove chemical incident
A runaway polymerisation raises questions about safety measures and their backups
It’s time for consensus on science’s place in government
The latest shake-up of UK science policy oversight brings uncertainty to a sector that needs stability to succeed
Trust is easily broken and hard to rebuild
Thermo Fisher needs to be open and honest about data manipulation to reassure researchers
Is industry getting more or less safe?
US figures suggest an increase in incidents involving serious injuries and fatalities in recent years
Letters: July 2026
Readers discuss stamp collection, half drops and more
Profiles
From baseball to chemistry, and back again
With a lifelong passion for baseball and love of science, Jake Bruml began his career in biotech but transitioned to direct scouting for the Boston Red Sox
Rewriting genetic medicine
Scribe Therapeutics will soon begin clinical trials for its epigenetic treatment to tackle ‘bad’ cholesterol
Watching unpaired electrons at work
From building the Centre for Pulse EPR at Imperial to probing electron transfer in real time, Maxie Rößler is pushing an overlooked technique into the spotlight
Watching unpaired electrons at work
From building the Centre for Pulse EPR at Imperial to probing electron transfer in real time, Maxie Rößler is pushing an overlooked technique into the spotlight
Ben Zhong Tang: ‘If you have to do something, try to do it well’
The polymer chemist on finding love for a subject, working with others and staying optimistic
Detecting airborne pathogens by DNA sequencing
UK spin-out Agnos Biosciences turned a ‘wacky idea’ into a sensor with applications from agriculture to hospitals
When vanadium almost changed how we treat type 2 diabetes
Chris Orvig tells the story of BEOV
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
It’s time for consensus on science’s place in government
By Patrick Walter
The latest shake-up of UK science policy oversight brings uncertainty to a sector that needs stability to succeed
What do university chemistry practicals really test?
By Nitheeshan Gunanantham
In Nitheeshan Gunanantham’s experience, stamina can become a stand-in for skill