RSC - Advancing the Chemical Sciences


Chemistry World

 

News May 2004


French researchers hang up their placards

Scientists make peace with the government, but turn on each other.


Lack of new TB drugs, despite urgent requirement

The global pharmaceutical industry has only 22 compounds in development for treating tuberculosis (TB).


Rice straw: come hell or high water

Attempts to turn rice straw, the inedible remains of the rice crop, into a wood substitute are beginning to shed light on a host of properties that might exceed even those of humbl...


Fighting for the ozone layer

At an intergovernmental meeting in Montreal, Canada in March, participants from 114 countries voted to grant limited 'critical use exemptions' to 11 developed countries facing the ...


Termite troubles

Rapid termiticide development fails to stem insect swarm.


Getting personal with biotechnology

Personalised medicine, which promises to prevent, detect and cure diseases by linking the mechanisms and pathways of illnesses to individuals, will become a reality 'in our lifetim...


Cool reception for carbon cuts

Energy company executives are raising renewed concerns over the UK's ambitious plans to cut carbon emissions one year after publication of the government's Energy White Paper.


Voice of the future

The next major challenge facing UK researchers is to persuade society that scientific method should be at the core of scientific debate, and to diminish the influence of minority p...


UK government consults on Reach

Britain's views on EU chemical legislation released.


EU creates united policy to fight fake drugs

Around the world, counterfeit chemicals present a risk to the public.


Bernard Henbest (1924-2004)

Bernard Henbest took up the chair of organic chemistry at Queen's University Belfast in 1958 at the age of 33.


Sir John Pople (1925-2004)

Sir John Pople revolutionised the field of quantum chemistry.


Double beam dream

Researchers at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, UK, are developing what they claim to be the 'most intense laser in the world'.


Vernalis buys back migraine drug

Vernalis, the biotech company formed from the merger of British Biotech and the original Vernalis, has bought back the rights to its migraine drug from Irish biotech firm Elan.


Copycat chemistry disarms bugs

Researchers develop protein copies which make bacteria impotent.


Protein protection for genetic delivery

Microcapsules offer a novel route for DNA-based drugs.


Polychromic plastics: the magic starts here

Chemists open the doors to new applications for colour-changing polymers.


Ironing out rising CO2

Could adding iron to the ocean cut carbon dioxide levels?


Joining forces to understand ozone

Three different groups provide new insight into atmospheric reactions.


A fishy method of analysis

Artificial musks are causing scientists to look to new ways of detecting pollutants.


Capturing nutraceuticals on film

Chitosan carries vitamins and minerals to enrich fruit.


Build your own yeast cell

German researchers piece together biological jigsaw.


Ozone unfolds Alzheimer's mysteries

The brain chemistry of cholesterol metabolites.


Prions show the strain

US researchers suggest that a single protein gives different prion properties.


New sensor detects cholera toxin

Hope for cholera sufferers in developing countries.


Slicking the light fantastic

Using sunlight to remove oil from polluted beaches.


Chemists on a high

Molecular motors enter a new dimension.


Nanotube bolognaise, anyone?

Reinforcing polymers with carbon nanotubes; it's all on the surface.


Picking the bones of drug delivery

Supercritical CO2 offers a novel route to controlled protein release.


Cottoning on to flame resistance

Clay particles help prevent cotton from burning so readily.


Fine tuning cancer-killing molecules

New cancer-beating molecules may be a step closer, thanks to collaboration between chemists and biomedical scientists in Australia.


Physical chemistry helps biology

A new biolabel to help biologists monitor dynamic processes in biological systems is being developed by a team at Utrecht University in The Netherlands.


Technological advance from Nature's design

Letting Nature do the hard work in preparing complex structures for microdevices is looking more likely thanks to a team of materials scientists from Ohio State University and the ...


Nanomaterials to the core

Nanomaterials with a core and a shell made from the same material have been synthesised for the first time.


Microfluidics to help IVF

Microfluidic devices could soon be improving the success of in vitro fertilisation, according to a team of scientists from the universities of Illinois and Wisconsin, US.


Propelling self assembly

A new cage molecule with a unique 'double-propellor' structure and interesting magnetic properties has been prepared in a collaboration between universities.


Back to batteries

Chemists are turning their hand to solving the world's electrical energy crisis.