Chemistry World Blog

4 October 2010: Have something to say about an article you’ve read on Chemistry World this week? Leave your comments below…

This week’s stories:

DNA strides into organic synthesis
Programmed DNA walker autonomously controls a sequence of three reactions with record yield

India calls for ambitious increase in science funding
India must more than double its science funding and overhaul research management in the country, urges high level advisory council

U-turn on Alzheimer’s drugs in the UK
UK body is poised to reverse a 2007 decision preventing NHS patients in the UK receiving a number of acetylcholinesterase drugs for Alzheimer’s disease

Peptide balls prove tougher than steel
Could Alzheimer’s-related material help produce a space elevator?

Hungarian toxic mud reaches Danube
Caustic red mud from a ruptured chemical reservoir in Hungary has reached the Danube

Non-stick chewing gum hits market
Chemists tweak traditional chewing gum formulation to create a new gum that is simple to remove and degrades easily

New light shed on ‘photothermal’ cell death
Laser-activated metal nanoparticles kill cells without heating, opening the possibility of a precision ‘nanoscalpel’ for surgery on subcellular structures

Muscling in on toxic seafood
Real-time toxin screening of shellfish could put an end to seafood related food-poisoning

Trio share Nobel for palladium-catalysed cross-coupling
Chemistry Nobel prize goes to pioneering research into palladium-catalysed cross coupling, now ubiquitous in organic synthesis

US roadmap for nano development
Nanotechnology report calls for additional emphasis on investment and commercialisation

Mimicking nature’s solar cells
‘Artificial leaves’ could provide electricity in the future

Graphene scoops the physics Nobel
Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov are this year’s winners for discovering that peeling sticky tape from graphite could produce an amazing new material

Sanofi hostile move for Genzyme
Sanofi-Aventis makes a hostile $18.5 billion takeover bid for US biotech, Genzyme

US concerns about rare earths scarcity gain momentum
Legislation to free America from dependence on China’s rare earth minerals easily passes through House of Representatives

Glowing glucose tracker goes skin deep
Researchers develop wireless, fluorescent microbeads to sit under the skin and monitor blood glucose levels

ECHA to go easy on ‘exceptional cases’
Some firms will be allowed to miss the submission deadline for Europe-wide chemicals legislation

DNA origami with a twist
Researchers in the US have designed and synthesised a nanoscale Möbius strip out of DNA origami