Andy Extance
Before becoming a full-time science writer, Andy Extance worked for six and a half years in early-stage drug discovery research, followed by brief stint in silicone adhesive and rubber manufacturing.
However, when he had his first feature – on a cause of common heart-related problems in new drug candidates – published in Chemistry World in 2004, the course of his career shifted. After working as news editor for Compound Semiconductor magazine, he went freelance in 2009. Today Andy’s science writing explores everything related to chemistry, from Earth’s environment to space, from food to fusion, and from solar cells to how we smell.
ResearchVisible light-powered catalysts clean up ‘forever chemicals’
Organic photoredox catalysts show promise for fluorinated pollutants
FeatureClearing up the compostable plastic mess
Rather than a potential triumph, the compostable plastics we use look increasingly like a tragedy. Andy Extance looks at the problems and seeks solutions
ResearchProteins with multiple structures open up AlphaFold’s black box
AI prediction model often fails to identify fold-switching, helping show how it works and the limits of its usefulness
FeatureHow satellite remote sensing is enhancing our understanding of Earth
Instruments in space have studied the planet’s atmosphere and surface, and are now being joined by powerful new ones, finds Andy Extance
BusinessMDMA rejection poses questions for psychedelic drug trials
Decision prompts reflection over how psychotherapy is involved, regulating combination treatments and safeguarding patients
ResearchAI tool outperforms existing x-ray structure methods
Deep learning approach determines phase of diffracted beams with lower-quality data
FeatureHow a new strategy aims to break the catalytic speed limit
The Sabatier principle normally defines the maximum reaction rate enabled by catalyst materials, but scientists now think that they can go even faster, explains Andy Extance
ResearchThe catalyst speedup toolkit
A rundown of the various strategies scientists are exploring to cheat the Sabatier limit
NewsHow can your lab cut water use in reflux reactions?
Practical advice builds on a new study comparing air-cooled condensers
FeatureBrain chemistry basics
Andy Extance looks into the latest in Alzheimer’s disease, pain and memory
FeatureWhy don’t we know how antidepressants work yet?
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are at the centre of a collision between social and biochemical outlooks on depression, finds Andy Extance
ResearchElectronic cooling device is part fridge, part muscle
Soft polymer material flexes to move heat between surfaces
ResearchScreening reveals thousands of ‘undrugged, yet druggable’ proteins
Collaboration involving Pfizer develops freely accessible AI tool to probe protein–compound interactions
ResearchFirst mirror-image cyclodextrins come together ‘like Lego’
L-enantiomers could be more stable than their existing, more common, forms
ResearchCarbon’s allotrope explosion demonstrates how the element is both versatile and fickle
New all carbon materials are relatively easy to predict but challenging, if not impossible to make, experts tell Andy Extance
ResearchPulsating chemical computers vie with their quantum rivals
The Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction powers cellular automata and optimisation calculations
ResearchKinky findings drive crystal growth paradigm shift claim
How molecules attach chemically at surfaces can be more important than how strongly solvents bind them in determining growth rate
ResearchFirst GPT-4-powered AI lab assistant independently directs key organic reactions
Large language model takes control after being prompted to do Suzuki and Sonogashira couplings
FeatureReaching into the non-covalent toolbox
Alongside supramolecular stalwarts, budding bonding forms are vying to be valuable, finds Andy Extance
FeatureUsing DNA evidence to picture suspects
Forensic DNA phenotyping predicts people’s appearance and reveals their ancestry, finds Andy Extance, but has some significant challenges to overcome