C&EN's list of Best Chemistry Highlights

OK. I'm a closet Chemistry Geek! And of course as everyone knows I am also a Canadian. So when the latest issue of Chemistry and Engineering News arrived at my doorstep today it was not long in its pristine plastic cover. In this last issue of the year 2007 there was an article citing the "best" chemistry highlights of the year. Two things impressed me. The first was the sheer SCOPE of developments where chemists have made a huge difference to or understanding of things this past year. The second was that, of the roughly 20 or so things reported on from the world over, THREE (count them) were from CANADIAN contributors. These were as follows:

1. The first "structural snapshot" of a penicillin binding protein which might just make a huge impact on the design of the next generation of antibiotics. This was contributed by Natalie C.J. Strynadka and co-workers at UBC (improved later by a Harvard group)

2. Todd L. Lowary and co-workers at the University of Alberta Edmonton synthesized key oligosaccharides from the cell walls of TB bacteria providing new insights AGAIN into possibly novel approaches to combat drug resistent strains. This one continues in aLONG tradition of leadership in the chemistry of sugars that was pioneered by such Canadian legends as Ray Lemeiux at Alberta more than three decades ago.

3. Frank A.P.C.Gobas, Barry C.Kelly and co-workers at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby BC had a new take on the traditional methods of looking at toxin acumulations in food webs that may well cause us to rethink many of our former conclusions about some compounds. Apparently they have shown that the usual analyses of the absence of accumulation in fish may not ALWAYS be a good indicator for what happens in humans.

There is of course more on the C&EN website in the December 24 issue (yes THERE's a geek for you publishing on Xmas eve!) at http://pubs.acs.org/cen/ It is very interesting reading. Who knew about these science altering contributions from Canadian academics? My question is: "Did we appropriately commercialize them?"

Your feedback and commentary is always welcome.