Bethany Halford

muse-scripts for this month courtesy of yours truly! these protein names have fascinated me since high school so it was a total blast to investigate them : )

Music inspires proteins and scientists alike A symphony of proteins and an orchestra of scientists

Looking for some #FridayFun? In the latest #Newscripts column for @cenmag.bsky.social, @sarahbraner.bsky.social leans into some science-music mashups.
#chemsky #chemchat
cen.acs.org/biological-c...

Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

Quiz: C&EN’s periodic table challenge Can you remember all 118 elements in the periodic table without looking at the answers?

Fleet fingered element lovers, it's time to take C&EN’s periodic table challenge. Can you beat my score? 28 on Minute Challenge
#chemsky
cen.acs.org/education/sc...

Aromatic 5-silicon rings synthesized at last 2 groups working independently construct the same long-sought compound via different routes

Move over, cyclopentadiene anion. Working independently, Takeaki Iwamoto's group and David Scheschkewitz's group synthesized a five-membered aromatic silicon ring. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
#chemsky
cen.acs.org/materials/in...

Thanks for sharing! ❤️ I'm saving this to share with my Chem 1 students tomorrow.

The chemistry behind the NFL’s highlight-reel catches Football players in the NFL use gloves coated with tacky silicone to help them grip the ball

I'll admit it. I don't follow football. But @maxhenrybarnhart.bsky.social's story about the gloves football players wear for @cenmag.bsky.social is positively gripping.
#chemsky
cen.acs.org/materials/po...

Matt's team did a great job. It would be great for the private (pharma) and public (academic) sectors to share similar (unpublished studies). These data exist but unfortunately languish on shelves because most want to publish positive outcomes.

How to put drug leads forgotten in the freezer back to work Open science advocates create a guide to sharing medicinal molecule collections

Many years ago when I was a graduate student doing medchem, compounds would languish in our freezers after testing. Chemists in Matthew Todd's group are looking to make better use of such molecules. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social.
#chemsky
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

What is the toxin in Nestlé’s recalled infant formula? Cereulide contamination has led the food giant to pull products from 50 countries

Mike McCoy and I wrote this explainer for @cenmag.bsky.social about cereulide, the toxic compound that recently led Nestle to recall infant formula in 50 countries. The molecule's resilience is terrifying.
cen.acs.org/safety/consu...

I'd like to chat with people who have applied for grad school in chem or biochem for fall 2026 for an article in C&EN (@cenmag.bsky.social) about how funding changes in the US are impacting admissions. If this is you, please fill out this form.

forms.office.com/r/5xUxaqEnfX
#chemsky #chemchat

Scratch-and-sniff stamps and lickable parcels Meaningful messages that engage the senses

Sensory overload: In the latest #Newscripts for @cenmag.bsky.social, @bribarbu.bsky.social explores scratch-and-sniff stamps and "deliciously unhinged" lickable wrapping paper.
cen.acs.org/business/con...

Stereochemical secrets of secalosides A and B revealed at last After almost 30 years, chemists fully decipher the structures of a pair of natural products

Good morning. Do you want a feel-good story about ingenuity and a determined graduate student cracking a decades-old total synthesis problem? If yes, @bethanyhalford.bsky.social spins a yarn you may enjoy.

cen.acs.org/biological-c...

Stereochemical secrets of secalosides A and B revealed at last After almost 30 years, chemists fully decipher the structures of a pair of natural products

A fun total synthesis paper from Karl Scheidt's group that reaches back almost 30 years. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/biological-c...

Picture of text from a book that reads as follows: This was almost definitely going to get them killed, but as least those GC fuckers would never see it coming.

Synthetic chemists breaking into the analytical chemists' labs at night to use their instruments without knowing what they are doing:

Nominate Talented 12 candidates for 2026 Help us identify early career scientists doing research that will have a global impact

Only 8 days left to nominate a stellar early-career molecular scientist for @cenmag.bsky.social's Talented 12. I'd love to see more folks from industry in our nominations pool. Link to the nomination form here: cen.acs.org/sections/nom...

#chemsky #chemchat

Who out there likes to look at small molecule #drugs? You can explore all the ones FDA approved in 2025 using this interactive table in @cenmag.bsky.social (made by Shea Murphy): cen.acs.org/sections/dru...
#chemsky

FDA’s new drug approvals dipped in 2025 46 new molecular entities cleared the agency’s hurdles last year, 4 fewer than in 2024

Check out the excellent interactive table (made by Seamus Murphy) in my feature for @cenmag.bsky.social about the new molecular entities FDA approved in 2025.
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

C&EN's Talented 12 Know an extraordinary young researcher who is inspiring the next generation of chemists? Submit your nomination by January 20, 2026 for the Talented 12 class of 2026.

The end of the year is a great time to boost your colleagues. If you know an amazing early-career* chemist or biochemist doing creative work on important problems, please consider nominating them to the Chemical & Engineering News Talented 12 class of 2026?

cen.acs.org/sections/tal...

Earliest evidence of human fire starters unearthed Discovery of iron pyrite at a site in England pushes back the date of human fire creation by 350,000 years

Fire starters, 400,000-year-old twisted fire starters...
@bethanyhalford.bsky.social for @cenmag.bsky.social #chemsky 🧪
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...

Yes! You and several reddit threads. Thanks for bringing it to our attention!

I’m very glad I got to write about 28 Years Later for @cenmag.bsky.social just in time for the Jan release of the next chapter 😆

Molecular moments in pop culture Chemical quibbles with explosions and sugar domes

Looking for a fun read? For the December #Newscripts in @cenmag.bsky.social, Fionna Samuels (@fmorningstar.bsky.social) took a look at the chemistry of two pop culture moments from the past year: An exoplosive scene in 20 Years Later and the GBBO sugar dome disaster
cen.acs.org/education/sc...

At MAHA Summit, the NIH head pushes for research that risks failure And 4 other takeaways for life scientists from the ‘off-the-record’ Make America Healthy Again conference

So, remember that MAHA summit 2 weeks ago that @statnews.com broke the news of and @maxkozlov.bsky.social somehow got into for Nature, even though it was closed to the press?

The organizers posted the entire 6.5-hour conference proceedings to YouTube last week.

cen.acs.org/policy/MAHA-...

Proteins plucked from the pages of Renaissance recipes Analyses of German medical manuals from 1531 reveal what ingredients those who handled the books used

Do you have recipe books with annotations and stains on the most popular pages? Me too, and so does the University of Manchester. Except their recipe books are medieval medical manuals.
@bethanyhalford.bsky.social for @cenmag.bsky.social
🧪 #chemsky
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...

Proteins plucked from the pages of Renaissance recipes Analyses of German medical manuals from 1531 reveal what ingredients those who handled the books used

Just as the page of a preferred pie crust recipe bears traces of flour and butter, the pages of two German medical manuals from 1531 hold traces of the ingredients used by medicine makers, a proteomic analysis from @stefanhanss.bsky.social and coworkers reveals
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...

Bitopertin was once a failed drug candidate gathering dust in Roche's portfolio. Thanks to work from Disc Medicine, FDA could soon approve it to treat a rare blood disorder. Read @rowanwalrath.bsky.social's excellent story in @cenmag.bsky.social.

How to prevent emerald-green oil paint from breaking down Chemists decipher dual degradation pathways for a once popular pigment

Monet, Munch, and Pissarro all used emerald green paint made from copper acetoarsenite pigment. Chemists have discovered that this pigment breaks down via two distinct chemical pathways. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...

The goal of the poll is to highlight cool molecules as opposed to newsmakers.

Hey #chemsky - it's time to vote for your favorite molecule in @cenmag.bsky.social's Molecule of the Year contest (curated by the amazing @bribarbu.bsky.social).

Some strong candidates in here. I'm excited to see which molecule will win.
cen.acs.org/synthesis/Mo...