Chemistry Blog

The Big Fat Truth

It looks like the relationship between body weight and all-cause mortality might be a bit more complicated (and interesting) than is commonly believed:

http://www.nature.com/news/the-big-fat-truth-1.13039

God and Science: Is there a Conflict

Here's an interesting talk by biophysicist Dr. Krk Durston on the relationship between God, science and Christianity:

  

Qunatum Mechanics: Myths and Facts

Here's deep reading for deep thinkers:

http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0609163

 

Who Runs Our Colleges-- Administrators or Faculty?

It doesn't have anything to do with chemistry per se, but Professor Ron Lipsman has written a hard hitting piece about higher education that is well worth studying, for faculty, administrators, and students alike.

 

Synthesis of Dyes in Organic Chem Lab

Jessica and Kevin model their tie dyed shirts they made using the Malachite Green produced via a Grignard reaction in orgo lab.

Is "the pill" a risk factor for breast cancer?

According to Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, a physician and breast surgeon, oral contraceptives represent a significant risk factor for breast cancer.  You can read short, popular-level articles and blog posts on the subject, here and here.  You can read a more technical treatment of the subject by Dr. Lanfranchi, here.  This subject is of obvious interest to Catholics, given the Church's official teaching on contraception and the controversy that often surrounds it.

The soylent diet

My guess is that the soylent diet will never catch on and for good reason.

 

Peptide drugs continued: from venom to pharmacy

Who would have thought that animal venoms could be harvested to save lives?  It turns out that animal venoms contain a rich brew of proteins and peptides that can be optimized into safe and effective pharmaceutical agents.  You can read about some exciting developments in venom derived peptide drugs in a recent article.

Peptide drugs

Are peptide-based drugs the wave of the future?  Pfizer seems to think so.  And two small biotech companies are lading the charge, Ra Pharmaceuticals and Aileron Therapeutics. 

Aileron is developing a new class of drugs called stapled alpha helical peptides.  Moreover, Dr. Tomi Sawyer, CSO of Aileron, has given a couple very nice talks about faith and science at SHU.  Here's a neat molecular dynamics simulation of a stapled alpha helical peptide:

 

Dr. Doug Treco is founder and CEO of Ra Pharmaceuticals.  Ra is developing a new class of peptide drugs called cyclomimetics and uses a powerful chemical screening platform developed in the lab of Nobel prize winner, Jack Szostak.  Here is Dr. Treco talking about Ra Pharmaceuticals:

 

The Underlying Mathematical Foundation of Nature

Is the universe the product of an intelligent mind?  Is the harmony, order, rational structure and intelligebility of the universe, as revealed by science, best explained by a transcendant intelligence?  In this short but fascinating video clip, Dr. Walter Bradley discusses God, science and the mathematical structure of the universe.  I hope you enjoy it.