Going It Alone
Quote of the Week
"We understand that we have to be regulated. We just ask that it be fact-based and scientifically based."
CRAIG O. MORRISON, CEO, MOMENTIVE PERFORMANCE MATERIALS – p. 23
June 20, 2011
In This Issue:
Jump to Table of Contents ↓
Highlights
Cover Story
After The Break-Up
The end of a partnership with big pharma brings both opportunity and challenge for biotech firms. (pp. 15-20)
Government & Policy
Jeremy Berg's Legacy At NIH (Member Content)
NIGMS director, champion of chemistry leaves an indelible mark. (pp. 28-30)
Science & Technology
Thermoelectrics Make A Comeback
New concepts and materials invigorate a commercially active but obscure field specializing in heating, cooling, and power generation. (pp. 33-35)
Table of Contents
News Of The Week
Formaldehyde, Styrene Added To Cancer Warning List p. 11
Toxicology: Government recommends limited exposure to the industrial chemicals.
Supreme Court Backs Strong Patents p. 12
Intellectual Property: Justices uphold high hurdle for proving a patent is invalid.b.
Biotech Sector Rebounds p. 12
Pharmaceuticals: Recovery is occurring but growth is slow, dogged by a widening gap in access to capital.
Structure Of Brassinolide's Receptor Solved p. 13
Biochemistry: First look at sensor for plant hormone has implications for crop yield, protection.
Merck Moves Again On Biosimilars p. 13
Pharmaceuticals: Deal with South Korea's Hanwha adds generic version of Amgen's Enbrel to its portfolio.
Promising Pom-Poms p. 14
Therapeutics: Nucleic acid structures enter cells readily, control gene expression.
Olympians Of Chemistry p. 14
Four high school students will represent the U.S. at the International Chemistry Olympiad next month in Turkey.
Business
An Industry Resurgent p. 23 (Member Content)
Chemical executives at annual meeting revel in good times, stay wary on regulations.
Clariant Tells Its Story pp. 24-25 (Member Content)
Company leaders discuss outlook, as well as the Süd-Chemie acquisition, at a London event.
Porton Matures p. 26 (Member Content)
China-based custom intermediates producer enters active drug ingredients market.
Business Concentrates p. 22 (Member Content)
- Ineos Will Acquire Tessenderlo’s PVC Unit
- Ineos ChlorVinyls is buying Tessenderlo’s chlor-alkali and polyvinyl chloride business...
- Arkema To Invest In Fluorspar
- Arkema plans to invest more than $100 million to develop a 122,000-metric-ton-per-year fluorspar mine...
- Vertex Licenses Alios Compounds
- Vertex Pharmaceuticals will pay Alios BioPharma $60 million up front for access to two NS5B polymerase inhibitors...
- Celanese Advances Ethanol Plants
- Celanese is augmenting plans to commercialize its new TCX advanced ethanol technology...
- Array BioPharma To Restructure
- Array BioPharma is restructuring to reduce its spending rate and focus on its key clinical development programs...
- Business Roundup
- BASF, Saudi Basic Industries, Evonik, AkzoNobel, Gevo, Ambit Biosciences, Synageva BioPharma ...
ACS News
CAS Registry Marks A Milestone p. 38 (Member Content)
2010 ACS Annual Report Now Online p. 38 (Member Content)
Carmen Giunta Is HIST's New Editor p. 38 (Member Content)
Print On Demand Available For ACS Journalse p. 38 (Member Content)
'Jeopardy!' To Feature IYC Questions p. 38 (Member Content)
This Week Online
New Method Pinpoints Synergistic Botanical Compounds
Natural Products: Researchers identify molecules in goldenseal that work together to kill bacteria.
Detecting Toxins from Freshwater Algae
Water Pollution: A Raman spectroscopy technique could lead to a simple field test for algal toxins.
A Simple Test Spots Bacteria
Biosensors: A strip of filter paper changes color when exposed to bacteria.
CENtral Science Blog: Yesteryear's Poisonous Prescriptions
Government & Policy
Jeremy Berg's Legacy At NIH pp. 28-30 (Member Content)
NIGMS Director, Champion Of Chemistry leaves an indelible mark.
Insights: NSF Takes A Hit p. 31 (Member Content)
Report on alleged waste and abuse at NSF only politicizes the agency.
Government & Policy Concentrates p. 27 (Member Content)
- Politics At Play In Nuclear Waste Review
- The inspector general of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) told Congress last week that the agency’s chairman made...
- Aquarius Satellite To Study Oceans
- The successful launch of the Aquarius/Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC)-D satellite on June 10...
- EPA Opens Databases On Toxicity, Exposure
- Scientists and the public have greater access to chemical toxicity and exposure information thanks to two databases that EPA...
- FDA Strengthens Sunscreen Regulations
- After decades of delay, FDA issued a final regulation on June 14 that will require manufacturers...
- DOE Spends $36 Million For Biofuels
- The Department of Energy will distribute up to $36 million to six small-scale projects for development of...
» more government & policy news...
Awards
pp. 40-41 (Member Content)
People
Promotions p. 43 (Member Content)
Social Networking And C&EN
You can now follow C&EN on Facebook. Become a fan and track the latest news and discussions at facebook.com/CENews.
Science & Technology
Thermoelectrics Make A Comeback pp. 33-35 (Member Content)
New concepts and materials invigorate a commercially active but obscure field specializing in heating, cooling, and power generation.
New And Notable At ASMS pp. 36-37 (Member Content)
Companies launch a variety of new instruments.
Science & Technology Concentrates p. 32
- Marking Sugar’s Spot
- Enzyme structure reveals the secret behind the activated nitrogen that facilitates important protein modifications.
- Spinning Improves NMR Of Large Proteins
- Ultracentrifugation-NMR method reveals tough-to-determine structures
- Ursolic Acid Might Keep The Doctor Away
- Natural product found in apples is identified as a promising compound to treat age- and disease-related muscle atrophy.
- Fast, Sensitive DNA Sequencing
- Combining pyrosequencing and fluorescence measurements leads to a quick and sensitive method for analyzing DNA.
- Optical Imaging Of Ligand-Protein Binding
- Nanoscale microscopy method provides high spatial and temporal resolution.
» more science & technology news...
Meetings
Southeast Regional Meeting Call For Papers p. 41 (Member Content)
The 63rd Southeastern Regional Meeting (SERMACS 2011), hosted by the Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society, will take place on Oct. 26–29.
2011 C&EN Calendar Web Exclusive
C&EN's latest list of meetings and events of interest to those in the chemical community.
Editor's Page
Archives Excursion p. 5
The Departments
Letters pp. 4, 6-8
Newscripts p. 48
Melon Mines, Bear Scare, Dog Days.
C&EN Archives
Now the history of the chemical enterprise is instantly accessible online. C&EN Archives holds the complete collection of C&EN issues dated back from 1923, covering world chemical events, breakthroughs in research, technological advances, business and marketing ventures, government policy, career and education trends, and ACS milestones. With more than 500,000 pages of content, C&EN Archives is instantly accessible and fully searchable, allowing you to discover how the chemical enterprise developed into what it is today.
Head here to discover the past via the C&EN Archives, go to http://pubs.acs.org/cen-archives
Environmental SCENE News
Fertilizer May Help Bacteria Slip Into Groundwater
Water Safety: High phosphate levels allow deadly microbes to pass through soil.
Bisphenol A Is Ubiquitous In Receipts
Endocrine Disrupters: Researchers detect BPA in every receipt that they collected from seven U.S. cities.
Sunlight Is An Effective Disinfectant
Public Health: Field work shows that a cheap water treatment method improves children's health.
House Takes Aim At Clean Air Act
Pollution: Industry backs cost-benefit analyses of EPA rules, but critics fear assault on public health.
Analytical SCENE News
New Method Isolates Membrane Proteins
Protein Purification: Technique separates proteins on a lipid bilayer.
Bisphenol A Is Ubiquitous In Receipts
Endocrine Disrupters: Researchers detect BPA in every receipt that they collected from seven U.S. cities.
Mapping Drugs In Human Tissue
Clinical Chemistry: Mass spectrometry imaging provides view of an inhaled drug in human lung tissue.
Skeletons Come To Light
Fluorescence Imaging: Monitoring cells as they dissolve bone may lead to disease treatments.
Analyzing Nuclear Processes
ACS Meeting News: Analytical chemists devise ways to watch radioactive streams.
JACS Research In C&EN
Indole Changeup Yields Elusive Alkaloid
ACS Meeting News: Cyclization and nitrene insertion star in synthesis.
Prefab Synthesis Moves Ahead
Organic Chemistry: First stable alpha-boryl aldehydes ease preparation of complex small molecules.
Multiple Bradykinin States Revealed
The peptide adopts at least 10 conformers in solution, explaining why its structure had only been partially characterized.
Scaling Up The Axinellamines
A quicker, more efficient, and stereocontrolled route to a key intermediate streamlines natural product syntheses.
A Revamped Vancomycin
Medicinal Chemistry: Modified compound shows promise against hard-to-treat bacteria.
CENtral Science
» News, notes, and musings from C&EN
Check out some of the recent posts from C&EN's blog, "C&ENtral Science"
Services & Tools
ACS Resources
ACS Careers
ACS is the leading employment source for recruiting scientific professionals. ACS Careers and C&EN Classifieds provide employers direct access to scientific talent both in print and online. Jobseekers | Employers
» Join ACS
Join more than 161,000 professionals in the chemical sciences world-wide, as a member of the American Chemical Society.
» Join Now!