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Katy Pitts, Principal Assistant and Safety Officer at the Department of Biochemistry, could probably now write the How-To manual on re-opening a biochemistry department in a global pandemic. She tells us of the highs and lows of recent months – and how an encounter with ‘The Distancer’ has (literally) opened doors for all.

Wren Therapeutics secures £18 million in funding to tackle protein misfolding diseases.

A common insect larva that eats beeswax has been found to break down chemical bonds in the plastic used for packaging and shopping bags at uniquely high speeds. Scientists say the discovery could lead to a biotechnological approach to the polyethylene waste that chokes ocean ecosystems and landfill sites.

In the search for low emission plant-based fuels, new research may help avoid having to choose between growing crops for food or fuel.

Enzymes made from artificial molecules which do not occur anywhere in nature have been shown to trigger chemical reactions in the lab, challenging existing views about the conditions that are needed to enable life to happen.

The chemical reactions behind metabolism – the processes that occur within all living organisms in order to sustain life – may have formed spontaneously in the Earth’s early oceans, according to research published today.

A book written for the general reader, Betrayed by Nature: The War on Cancer by Dr Robin Hesketh, sets out in plain English what goes wrong in our bodies when cells begin to replicate in an abnormal manner, and what science is doing to address the disease that kills seven million people every year.