Tag: chemistry world

Molecular cages to the rescue

Akshat Rathi1 Comment

X-ray crystallography has shaped modern chemistry. It is arguably the most powerful tool for molecular structural analysis. But it suffers from one big drawback: it can only analyse materials that form well-defined crystals. This may now be about to change. Researchers in Japan have used ‘crystal sponges’ to hold molecules that can’t be crystallised, allowing them to be analysed using x-ray crystallography.

Molecular cages to end crystallisation nightmare, Chemistry World, 27 March 2013.

Image credit: Yasuhide Inokuma

Longevity enhancer

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Since 2005 a controversy has been raging about the role of nitric oxide (NO) in increasing the lifespan of various organisms. Now, US researchers may have direct evidence for NO’s apparent special powers, at least in the nematode model organism Caenorhabditis elegans.

NO for longevity, Chemistry World, 21 Feb 2013.

Image credit: Chemistry World

Free drugs for the poor

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The government of India has announced a $5 billion (£3.2 billion) plan to provide more than half of the country’s 1.2 billion people with free generic drugs. In a country that has among the lowest healthcare spending per capita in the world, this is welcome news. But there are fears that the pharmaceutical industry, looking to the emerging markets to make up for declining sales in the developed world, will suffer as the plan will only cover generic medicines.

Free generics for India’s poor but big pharma misses out – Chemistry World, 25 July 2012

Image from here.