JOHN REES replies to Claudia Webbe
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Catalysts for change: the science of making molecules
Last week, the Nobel prize in chemistry 2021 was awarded for ‘the development of asymmetric organocatalysis’ — ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and JOEL HELLEWELL introduce a greener way to build molecules
NOBEL PRIZE: David WC MacMillan (left) and Benjamin List were awarded for finding an ‘ingenious’ and environmentally cleaner way to build molecules
There is no justification for spending colossal amounts of money on so-called defence — sacrificing our education, health and transport while they’re at it, says BERT SCHOUWENBURG
GEOFFREY BELL looks at the curiously unsupportive stance of British progressives of the Easter Rising
On the eve of the Communist Party of Ireland’s 27th congress JIMMY CORCORAN reiterates the principles that guided James Connolly
But that’s OK, says MATT KERR, as talking is what will help us get things done
Why a defeat of the miners still haunts Britain’s rulers, says PHIL KATZ
MAKING molecules is easy for humans: within your body, billions of delicately balanced chemical processes are happening every day, moving groups of atoms around in shifting patterns.
As carbon-based life-forms, our internal chemistry is fantastically rich. Carbon can combine with other atoms so easily and in so many ways. It’s a toolbox that produces all of life as we know it. But we don’t know how most of these submicroscopic reactions work.
Natural molecular processes have evolved over billions of years, with complex pathways looping in dizzying complexity within the cell. These require sophisticated biochemistry to untangle.
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