One of biology’s wilder facts is that we’re all family. You and me, sure, but also me and a mushroom. Triceratops shared genes with you. So does the virus that makes you cough, and a rosebush. Bacteria left us on the tree of life around 2.7 billion years ago, but the wet world they came...Read more about Meet CRISPR: Humanity’s shiny new tool
In a paper published earlier this year in the journal Nature, scientists explain the process in which they are using yeasts to manufacture cannabis compounds. These test tube shenanigans are being conducted more as a way for scientists to gain a better understanding of THC and CBD rather...Read more about Can beer yeast be used to create THC and CBD?
The story of the fifteenth element began in Hamburg, in 1669. The unsuccessful glassblower and alchemist Hennig Brandt was trying to find the philosopher’s stone, a mythical substance that could turn base metals into gold. Instead, he distilled something new. It was foamy and, depending...Read more about The histories hidden in the periodic table
When it was unveiled in 2012, people had great hopes that the gene editor CRISPR/Cas9 could treat or even cure hundreds to thousands of genetic diseases. This year, researchers in the United States began testing the gene editor in people, a crucial first step in determining whether the...Read more about The first U.S. trials in people put CRISPR to the test in 2019
Researchers in the UC Berkeley lab of John Kuriyan, Chancellor's Professor at the University of California, Berkeley in the departments of Molecular and Cell Biology and Chemistry, have utilized powerful NSF funded supercomputers at the University of Texas Advanced Computing Center and the...Read more about Skin cancer mystery revealed in Yin and Yang protein
A team of researchers at Berkeley Lab, led by alumna Rebecca Abergel, have developed a library of artificial proteins or “peptoids” that effectively “chelate” or bind to lanthanides and actinides, heavy metals that make up the so-called f-block elements at the bottom of the periodic...Read more about Artificial proteins have a firm grasp on heavy metals
Last year, researchers from the lab of Professor Omar Yaghi at UC Berkeley and Saudi Arabia published research announcing advancements in their MOF water capture system research. Now, the US military has established a new research program via DARPA looking for advanced ways to hydrate...Read more about Extracting drinking water out of thin air is DARPA’s latest research program
Editors from ACS Central Science and Nature Chemistry have weighed in on new and major chemical research trends in a webinar from C&EN. Experts Chris Chang, a senior editor with ACS Central Science and chemistry professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and Stu Cantrill,...Read more about Experts predict the big chemistry advances of 2020
In new research reported in Nature, an international team of chemical engineers have designed a material that can capture carbon dioxide from wet flue gasses better than current commercial materials. One way to ameliorate the polluting impact of flue gases is to take the CO2 out of them...Read more about New material design tops carbon-capture from wet flue gases
Academic researchers are usually quick to recognize the accomplishments of their colleagues, heaping praise on them when they reach a milestone birthday or, sadly, when they pass away. A few seem to always rise above the accolades to a place of higher reverence. One of those is Chemistry...Read more about The Life and Times of Richard A. Andersen