February 2007
Vol 4, No.2
News and analysis
A humane way to die?
Executions stayed as US states assess potentially painful lethal injections
PEG-ing makes cheaper drugs for developing countries
UK and Indian scientists have embarked on a collaboration to develop a new protein-based treatment for hepatitis C
First drug for fat dogs
Pfizer markets world's first medical treatment for canine obesity.
Knighthood for services to chemistry
Fraser Stoddart rewarded in New Year's Honours list
Making light work
A new breed of solar cells is gearing up for mass production
News in brief
Short items
Business roundup
Industry news
Funding briefs
Short items
Chemical science
Password protection goes molecular
05 January 2007
The ultimate in small-scale security: a molecule that acts like an electronic keypad lock.
Nanotube photoconductors
14 December 2006
Self-assembled nanotubes conduct an electric current in response to light.
A nanotech solution to wrinkled skin
09 January 2007
A technique that stops thin polymer films wrinkling could stop similar effects in ageing skin.
Amino acids in space
10 January 2007
Complex biomolecules could be produced by low-energy electrons on icy dust particles in space.
Blame it on the bacteria
20 December 2006
The bacteria in human guts could be partially responsible for obesity
Molecular probe identifies patients at risk of Alzheimer's
21 December 2006
Protein plaques and tangles tracked in live brains for first time
A sensitive touch
17 January 2007
A sensor in the tip of a needle can distinguish between different body tissues, offering more accurate samples for biopsies.
Better fuel through chemistry
19 January 2007
It would be cheaper and cleaner to produce fuel from Fischer-Tropsch syncrude than from crude oil, according to a South African researcher.
Electronics go on a bender
15 December 2006
New ways to deliver functioning electronic systems onto flexible substrates
Silent SNPs serve up a structural surprise
21 December 2006
Proteins built from an identical string of amino acids can have different biochemical properties.
Fingerprinting bacteria
04 January 2007
Rapid and highly specific detection of disease-causing micro-organisms is now possible thanks to US scientists.
Metabolic profiling could improve animal experiments
22 December 2006
Tests on lab critters must be more relevant to human trials, scientists say
Shedding light on breast cancer
19 December 2006
Improved early diagnosis of breast cancer could be in sight thanks to researchers in the UK.
Linking sugars
08 January 2007
Researchers in Canada have found a cheaper way of making glycans, complex carbohydrate structures found in biological systems.
A trans-fat-free future
09 January 2007
A healthier alternative to artery-clogging trans fats has been developed by food scientists.
Gallium forms new relationships
11 January 2007
Bonds between gallium and two different alkaline earth metals have been formed for the first time by scientists in Germany.
Batch synthesis of DNA
19 January 2007
Scientists in California have constructed a microfluidic device that can synthesise DNA with excellent efficiency.
Cocaine found on all Irish bank notes
12 January 2007
Low levels of cocaine have been found on all the Irish bank notes tested in a recent survey.
Instant insight: Nanohighway to solar cells
19 December 2006
Hiroshi Imahori discusses electrophoresis as a means to make molecular highways for organic solar cells.
Cleaner, safer synthesis
04 January 2007
Replacing toxic heavy metals with hypervalent iodine could be music to the ears of synthetic chemists.
Features
Living on credits
One way to tackle global warming is to give people a 'carbon ration' that limits their emission of greenhouse gases. Helen Pilcher reports
Fries to go?
Five years after acrylamide's discovery in foods, industry is still hard at work trying to cut levels of the potential carcinogen in convenience products. Emma Davies investigates
Solidarity in science
Jerzy Buzek helped fight communism in Poland before becoming its prime minister. Arthur Rogers meets this multi-faceted character
Chemical makeover
After the Berlin wall fell in 1989, the East German chemical industry collapsed. Victoria Gill reports
Picture perfect
Medical imaging now promises to take us to the molecular level, thanks to new, powerful MRI machines and clever contrast agents, as David Bradley finds out
Regulars
Editorial: Science stars rise in the East
Collaborate or die. That's the message of a series of reports from the independent thinktank Demos
In the papers...
Short items
Careers: Political science
Nick Green loves the varied nature of his job as science policy manager at the Royal Society, which sees him talking to politicians and scientists. Yfke Hager finds out more
Opinion: In the pipeline
Derek Lowe wonders whether the secret recipe for scientific breakthroughs can be taught - and how much indigestion that recipe would cause in the boardroom
Opinion: The crucible
Philip Ball uncovers how life shepherds protons around the cell with breathtaking ingenuity
Comment: The tyranny of peer review?
A less conservative approach would foster high-risk, high-return research, argues Sir John O'Reilly
Crossword and Su Doku
Prize crossword and Su Doku, February 2007
New on the market
New products - February 2007
The last retort: Daily Planet
LoveAce, a new type of deodorant has been launched
Flashback
20 years ago in Chemistry in Britain
Chemistry World Letters, February 2007
Chemistry World Reviews, February 2007
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