H2O: this one chemical compound set the stage for life on Earth. From that fact alone, you can tell how fundamental chemistry is to our very being. Today, synthetic chemistry plays a huge role in all we consume on a daily basis, from food to medicine. But what happens when the process of synthesizing chemicals becomes too much to sustain? For one thing, costs increase.
“We want to make medicines cheaper and available to all.” That’s Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Professor (CSHL) John Moses speaking at our latest Cocktails & Chromosomes event in Huntington, NY. Moses is a protege of click chemistry inventor K. Barry Sharpless. Click chemistry describes a revolutionary set of reactions that allow for new, sustainable compounds to be produced more efficiently and effectively. The process was only fully uncovered in 2001. But the science behind it has already helped to make Sharpless a two-time Nobel Prize winner. Now, Moses is using click chemistry to turbo-charge CSHL studies on antibiotic resistance, breast cancer, and other life-threatening diseases.
Press play to meet the brains behind these powerful developments. And register now to attend the next edition of Cocktails & Chromosomes on March 28. CSHL Assistant Professor Benjamin Cowley will bring us inside the mind’s eye.