Beating cancer by eating cancer Researchers engineer bacteria capable of consuming tumours from the inside out At first glance, infecting yourself with bacteria to get healthy sounds counterintuitive. How could something that gets us sick make us better? But bacteria, like people, come in many varieties: some are beneficial which we consider symbiotic and someContinueContinue reading “Microscopic healthcare workers: how bacteria are being used to treat cancer”
Author Archives: Clive Boateng
Unreliable Information May Influence Us More than We Know
Disinformation elicits learning biases Juan Vidal-Perez, Raymond Dolan and Rani Moran In general, people recognize that some information sources are more trustworthy than others. For example, a person may be more likely to trust information from peer-reviewed articles rather than news sites with the only aim to ‘get more clicks’. In a study performed byContinueContinue reading “Unreliable Information May Influence Us More than We Know”
Silicon, Not Carbon: The Surprising Element That’s Revolutionizing Cancer Drug Design
Bringing Silicon to Drugs: Modular Construction of Sila-Pharmacophores for the Development of Target Protein Degraders Zhigang Wu, Xujiang Zhu, Yueqiu Li, Xia Wang, Meizhen Huang, Zhenyuan Dong, Jiangnan Zheng, Ruijun Tian, Chuan He, and Jie Wang Most cancer drugs work by blocking the activity of harmful proteins, but the proteins themselves remain inside the cell. ThisContinueContinue reading “Silicon, Not Carbon: The Surprising Element That’s Revolutionizing Cancer Drug Design”
These Tiny Molecules Are Quietly Keeping You Alive, Meet Porphyrins
Porphyrins are nature’s workhorse. Nat. Chem. 17, 156 (2025). Krzyszowska, P., Pacholska-Dudziak, E. Have you ever wondered what makes your blood red? The answer lies in a family of molecules so vital to life that researchers have nicknamed them nature’s workhorse: porphyrins. Porphyrins are ring-shaped molecules, composed of four nitrogen-containing rings called pyrroles connected byContinueContinue reading “These Tiny Molecules Are Quietly Keeping You Alive, Meet Porphyrins”
Radziszewski Amidation: Chemistry’s Hidden Light Show
Panzarasa, G. Just Add Luminol to Turn the Spotlight on Radziszewski Amidation. ACS Omega 2018, 3 (10), 13179–13182. Imagine a chemical reaction that not only helps synthesize medicines but can also glow in the dark. That is the Radziszewski amidation, a century-old reaction, gaining attention for its sustainability and its unique light producing properties. TheContinueContinue reading “Radziszewski Amidation: Chemistry’s Hidden Light Show”
Beyond the Barrel: Can Coconut Oil Replace Petroleum-Based Chemicals?
Eco-Efficient Hydrolysis of Coconut Oil: A Continuous Hydrothermal and Water-Only Process for the Production of Oleochemicals. Green Chem. 2026. Menalla, E.; Martin, D.; Vaquerizo, L.; Tester, J. W.; Cocero, M. J.; Cantero, D. From energy generation to manufacturing, petroleum is essential for many aspects of modern living. Unfortunately, petroleum is non-renewable (there is only soContinueContinue reading “Beyond the Barrel: Can Coconut Oil Replace Petroleum-Based Chemicals?”
How Does a Cancer Cell Hit The Big Red Button?
The death domain kinase RIP1 links the immunoregulatory CD40 receptor to apoptoticsignaling in carcinomasPauline G. Knox,1,2 Clare C. Davies, 3Marina Ioannou,2 and Aristides G. Eliopoulos1,2 Image generated by author Normally, when a cell senses it’s becoming cancerous, it can press the self-destruct button to protect the body. However, mutations in this mechanism can keep aContinueContinue reading “How Does a Cancer Cell Hit The Big Red Button?”