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Jamie Durrani

@jtdurrani.bsky.social

180 followers 56 following 12 posts

Senior science correspondent for Chemistry World.

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Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · Aug 1

Next week, negotiators will try to finalise the details of a global treaty to tackle plastic pollution. But disagreements about reducing plastic production and limiting the use of particular chemicals in plastics manufacture could have a major influence on the treaty's success.

Plastic treaty negotiations go down to the wire

Capping production and limiting use of harmful chemicals are key topics for negotiators to consider

www.chemistryworld.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Julia Robinson @robinson-julia.bsky.social · May 30

From 1 June 2025, it will be illegal for businesses to sell or supply single-use vapes. In our latest explainer @adamcvean.bsky.social tells you everything you need to know about exactly what this means and why it is happening: www.chemistryworld.com/news/explain... @chemistryworld.com

Explainer: Why is the UK banning disposable vapes?

Prior to the ban, almost seventy million single-use e-cigarettes were being discarded each year in the UK - containing enough lithium for a thousand electric vehicle batteries

www.chemistryworld.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Anna Demming @annademming.bsky.social · May 31

While machine learning algorithms have wowed with how they help figure out protein folding problems, most proteins function by switching between conformations and engineering ‘de novo’ proteins that do this has proved a lot more tricky...
www.chemistryworld.com/news/designe...

Designer protein switches conformations like a natural one

Researchers design, produce and test a synthetic protein with a dynamic structure

www.chemistryworld.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Neil Withers @neilwithers.bsky.social · May 20

I'm very pleased to see this collection live – links to individual stories to follow below...

Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · May 20

Many medical conditions affect women disproportionately or exclusively. In our new collection, we look at the gender gap in health and drugs, how treatments for menopause are slowly changing, what we’re finding out about period products and more.

Women's health | Chemistry World

Many medical conditions affect only women, or affect them disproportionately, but women's health has historically been neglected in medical research. In this collection, we look at the gender gap in h...

www.chemistryworld.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

IUPAC @iupac.org · May 6

What is a molecular machine?

A new @iupac.org project aims to define the key terms used in molecular machines.

📖 Please read the following two @chemistryworld.com articles published by @rsc.org and take part in two polls 👍

📧[email protected]

🌐 iupac.org/what-is-a-mo...

Jamie Durrani @jtdurrani.bsky.social · Apr 9

Epi editors change the activity of individual genes without altering genetic code, and could help treat many diseases. To learn more, I spoke with scientists from four companies at the cutting edge of this entirely new type of medicine 🧪 #chemsky
www.chemistryworld.com/news/epigene...

Epigenetic editors enter clinical trials

New wave of precision medicines amplify or silence genes, without altering genetic code

www.chemistryworld.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Richard Van Noorden @richvn.bsky.social · Mar 27

Alphafold is running out of data. So a consortium of leading pharmaceutical companies announced plans today to make their own AlphaFold-3-inspired AI model using thousands of protein structures currently secreted away in company vaults.
by Ewen Callaway | @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

AlphaFold is running out of data — so drug firms are building their own version

Thousands of 3D protein structures locked up in big-pharma vaults will be used to create a new AI tool that won’t be open to academics.

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Phillip Broadwith @broadwithp.bsky.social · Mar 18

Official US shortages of semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound) have now ended, but the first generics are gearing up for launch in 2026 in some markets. So companies are looking for the next generation of drugs. www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/weig...

Weight loss drug supply races

With official shortages ended, but the first generics gearing up for launch, companies are looking for the next generation of drugs

www.chemistryworld.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Emma Pewsey @emmapewsey.bsky.social · Mar 6

Want to start a career in science journalism? Take a look at our internship opportunity - we're a friendly and supportive team, and many of our former interns are now freelancers who I still work with regularly!

Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · Mar 3

Sound like an experience you'd like to have? Applications for Chemistry World’s 2025 science writer internship supported by the Marriott Bequest Trust are open until 23 March 2025. Apply today- careers-rsc.icims.com/jobs/3588/sc... #ChemSky

Jobs at Royal Society of Chemistry

Find out more about working for us and view all vacancies including. We continue to ensure an inclusive workplace where opportunities are open to all, and where everyone can belong and bring their tru...

careers-rsc.icims.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Fer @gomobel.bsky.social · Mar 4

I did this internship back in (thinks for a bit...) 2016 and it's such a wonderful experience. Apply if you're eligible! cc @absw.bsky.social

Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · Mar 3

Sound like an experience you'd like to have? Applications for Chemistry World’s 2025 science writer internship supported by the Marriott Bequest Trust are open until 23 March 2025. Apply today- careers-rsc.icims.com/jobs/3588/sc... #ChemSky

Jobs at Royal Society of Chemistry

Find out more about working for us and view all vacancies including. We continue to ensure an inclusive workplace where opportunities are open to all, and where everyone can belong and bring their tru...

careers-rsc.icims.com

Jamie Durrani @jtdurrani.bsky.social · Mar 3

For more of an idea about what the internship involves, check out Rupo's first-hand account of her experience last summer: www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/my-s...

My summer writing for Chemistry World

Rupo Mapanga on being a science writer intern at the Royal Society of Chemistry

www.chemistryworld.com

Jamie Durrani @jtdurrani.bsky.social · Mar 3

Want to get into science journalism, or know some who does? Our two-month, paid internship is now open for applications - come and work with us #ChemSky 🧪
careers-rsc.icims.com/jobs/3588/sc...

Jobs at Royal Society of Chemistry

Find out more about working for us and view all vacancies including. We continue to ensure an inclusive workplace where opportunities are open to all, and where everyone can belong and bring their tru...

careers-rsc.icims.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Laura Howes @laurahowes.bsky.social · Feb 28

Absolute unit

Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · Feb 28

The 10-tonne magnet arrived by crane earlier this month.

1.2GHz NMR magnet arrives at University of Warwick

New instrument is 20% more powerful than the UK's current largest NMR spectrometer

www.chemistryworld.com

Jamie Durrani @jtdurrani.bsky.social · Feb 25

Several European governments have proposed cuts to their research budgets recently, leaving observers worried that short-term funding decisions will cause long-term damage to the sector www.chemistryworld.com/news/protest...

Protests and alarm as European research sector braces for cuts

Swiss science organisations are the latest to speak up after a wave of cuts is proposed across Europe

www.chemistryworld.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · Feb 12

As well as a "folding code", do proteins come with a second sequence code that is basically an address for a biomolecular condensate? A fascinating idea from Rick Young at the Whitehead Institute and colleagues.
www.chemistryworld.com/news/hidden-...

‘Hidden grammar’ explains proteins’ distribution into sub-cellular condensates

Proteins' amino-acid sequences appear to guide their access to blob-like aggregates involved in many cell processes

www.chemistryworld.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · Feb 7

I have run out of patience with the apparent silence of most US science institutions (and not just US) in the face of Trump & Musk's rampage. There are of so many facets of that, but in this column for @chemistryworld.com I talk about the assaults on inclusion.
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/scie...

Scientific institutions have a long history of anticipatory obedience

Societies should learn from this and speak up to support inclusion

www.chemistryworld.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Emma Pewsey @emmapewsey.bsky.social · Jan 31

With UKRI's announcement that it's increasing PhD stipends by 8%, I've updated my chart of stipends v minimum/living wage since 1999.

From next October, PhD students will take home around £100 a year more than someone working 37.5 hours a week on the living wage.

Minimum wage increased approximately linearly between its introduction in 1999 and April 2022, from an equivalent salary of around £6400 to £16,200.

Until October 2002, minimum PhD stipend levels were slightly higher than minimum wage. A sharp increase in stipend levels then occurred between October 2002 and October 2005. Since then PhD stipends have continued to increase, though to a lesser extent than minimum wage. By April 2019, minimum wage and minimum PhD stipends were once again about equivalent; as of April 2022, the salary of someone working full-time on minimum wage increased above the value of the PhD stipend minimum. A 13% increase in October 2022 brought stipends above minimum wage again, but this lasted only until April 2023. The planned increase in stipend for October 2025 will leave PhD students earning around £100 more a year than if they were on minimum wage

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Patrick Walter @patdwalter.bsky.social · Jan 14

Come work with us! Great job as a science media producer @chemistryworld.bsky.social. Good pay and benefits and you can work from Cambridge or remotely and work with a very talented group of science communicators. #scicomm #scijobs #chemsky careers-rsc.icims.com/jobs/3607/sc...

Jobs at Royal Society of Chemistry

Find out more about working for us and view all vacancies including. We continue to ensure an inclusive workplace where opportunities are open to all, and where everyone can belong and bring their tru...

careers-rsc.icims.com

Reposted by Jamie Durrani

Neil Withers @neilwithers.bsky.social · Dec 20

Today is my last working day of 2024! So here's a thread with highlights of the articles I've published this year – which also marked @chemistryworld.bsky.social's 20th anniversary!

Let's start in January, with this feature on editing the backbones of polymers
www.chemistryworld.com/features/edi...

Editing polymer backbones

Changing the chemical makeup of a polymer backbone could revolutionise how we make, use and even recycle plastics. James Mitchell Crow reports

www.chemistryworld.com

Jamie Durrani @jtdurrani.bsky.social · Dec 19

You can find loads of other amazing stories from my awesome colleagues @chemistryworld.bsky.social and our superb freelancers here 👇
www.chemistryworld.com/collections/...

2024 in review | Chemistry World

Our pick of the top chemistry stories from 2024

www.chemistryworld.com

Jamie Durrani @jtdurrani.bsky.social · Dec 19

Earlier this month, negotiations for a global treaty to tackle plastic pollution missed their first deadline. I spoke with scientists following the negotiations to learn why the process has been so difficult. #PlasticTreaty
www.chemistryworld.com/news/after-y...

After years of negotiations, a global agreement to tackle plastic pollution is within sight

The UN's plastics treaty negotiations have faced many hurdles, but delegates are getting closer to a final agreement

www.chemistryworld.com

Jamie Durrani @jtdurrani.bsky.social · Dec 19

October was #ChemNobel season – I was lucky enough to interview two of this year’s winners, as well as their colleagues and others in the field, to understand how they made the discoveries that won the chemistry Nobel prize.
www.chemistryworld.com/features/how...

How AI protein structure prediction and design won the Nobel prize

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper won this year's Nobel prize in chemistry. Jamie Durrani investigates the origins of a biochemistry revolution

www.chemistryworld.com

Jamie Durrani @jtdurrani.bsky.social · Dec 19

Providing heat to industrial processes without burning fossil fuels is hugely important in the fight against climate change. In August, I looked into the electric-powered technologies that already exist that could help industry tackle this massive challenge.
www.chemistryworld.com/news/electri...

Electrification of process heat stands to slash industry’s emissions

Technologies available now can decarbonise most heat demand, but cost and infrastructure barriers still exist

www.chemistryworld.com

Jamie Durrani @jtdurrani.bsky.social · Dec 19

In June, I spoke with researchers who are trying to understand how addictive drugs bring about epigenetic changes in the brain, and how these changes influence drug-seeking behaviours.
www.chemistryworld.com/features/the...

The proteins that drive drug addiction

Jamie Durrani speaks to researchers exploring how epigenetic changes in the brain affect drug-seeking behaviours

www.chemistryworld.com

Jamie Durrani @jtdurrani.bsky.social · Dec 19

Last day in the office, so it's time to look back at 2024's highlights.
Back in April, I reported on how the fascinating Davy Notebooks Project was offering new – and not all nice – insights into one of chemistry’s most well-known historic figures. #ChemSky 🧪
www.chemistryworld.com/news/davy-no...

Davy notebook project paints complicated picture of influential chemist

Humphry Davy was a prolific scientist, but could also be petty, selfish and prejudiced

www.chemistryworld.com