» March Latest News

March 31, 2005

Chemical Safety Board Investigates Refinery Blast

Isomerization unit is the apparent site of an explosion that killed 15 workers.

Agchems Help Monsanto, FMC

Both firms say earnings to exceed analyst forecasts.

March 30, 2005

Risk Revision

New EPA guidance gives industry sway on cancer assessments, environmental activists say.

Staying Away From Generics

Nicholas Piramal strives to make custom manufacturing its core, not an add-on to generics.

March 29, 2005

Diversionary Tactics

Sea hare sows confusion among enemies with chemical smoke screen.

Dr. Reddy's Signs Generic Drug Pact

Indian investment firm will fund drug development in exchange for royalties.

March 28, 2005

Making Proteins

Discovery of alternative cysteine biosynthetic pathway suggests how the genetic code might have been expanded.

Fighting TB

Nonprofit group will partner with GlaxoSmithKline to search for new treatments.

Vanity Pharma

Medicis' purchase of Inamed showcases megatrend for lifestyle enhancement therapies.

Renewables

Two deals may spur production of biomass-derived plastics.

March 25, 2005

UN Restructuring

Secretary General Kofi Annan's proposed reforms address terrorism, human rights, disease, and environmental issues.

March 24, 2005

ACC Names New President

Mining association head Jack N. Gerard will start job on July 1.

Amino Acids Reveal Protein Partners

Photoactivated amino acids are used to reveal novel protein interactions.

Panel Urges Shorter Postdoc Experience

NIH needs to promote more independence in researchers, NRC report finds.

India Moves On Drug Patents

Law advances that will ban production of patented pharmaceuticals.

March 23, 2005

Monitoring A Polymer Crystal's Evolution

Technique allows crystallization to be observed and precisely controlled at the same time.

Diverse Chemistry

Black chemists and chemical engineers gather for annual meeting in Orlando.

March 22, 2005

Portman Picked For Trade Office

Bush's nominee to lead trade talks gets high marks from chemical industry.

Achiral Alkenes To Chiral Aldehydes

Highly productive hydroformylation reaction uses new diazaphospholane ligands.

States And Stem Cells

Growing role of states in funding embryonic stem cell research can challenge researchers.

March 21, 2005

U.S. Settles Major Air Pollution Case

Ohio Edison agrees to pay $1.1 billion in Clean Air Act settlement.

Simplest Nucleic Acid

DNA analog may yield clues about prebiotic Earth.

Free Journal

The Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry will be first major open-access journal in its field.

HHMI Investigators

Howard Hughes Medical Institute selects bumper crop of chemists for funding.

Controlling Mercury

EPA defends new rule to cut power-plant mercury emissions.

March 18, 2005

Flaws In Bioterror Response

Incident reveals lack of government coordination and limited supplies of testing reagents.

Crompton Sells Refined Products

Financial buyers take on a business that's been for sale since 2000.

Rail Safety

Legal battles follow a far-reaching law restricting shipments of "ultra-hazardous" materials near the U.S. Capitol.

National Medals

President Bush presents the 2003 National Medals of Science and of Technology.

March 17, 2005

Hold The Vinegar

NMR method detects spoilage in unopened wine bottles.

Chemical Information Effort Expanded

Industry to provide toxicity data on high-production-volume substances not in current program.

Public-Private RNAi Consortium

Effort seeks to create reagents for use in drug discovery.

March 16, 2005

New Actor On The Diels-Alder Stage

A new type of diene can change the way synthetic chemists apply the Diels-Alder reaction.

Stark Effects From Global Warming

CO₂ emissions are causing oceans to warm, ocean chemistry to change, and rainfall patterns to shift.

March 15, 2005

Life And Depth

Study hints at how deep-sea bacterium copes with high pressure in the ocean.

Europe Studying Acetex Purchase

Commission fears competition undermined in acetic acid and derivatives.

Acid Chlorides React With Silicon Surface

Surface-adsorbate reaction allows silicon to be patterned with reactive monolayers.

March 14, 2005

Michael Griffin Picked To Head NASA

Bush calls on physicist to head space agency.

Agent Orange Case Dismissed

Judge throws out all claims against U.S. chemical companies.

Arsenic Link To Ancient Migration

Metal poisoning may have contributed to desertion of Verde Valley by early Native Americans.

Chemists Converge In San Diego

More than 9,000 papers scheduled for presentation at spring ACS national meeting.

Detecting Anthrax

Portable Raman method detects biological agent quickly and with improved sensitivity.

Lube Job

Cross-linking of zinc phosphate lubricant additives protects engines, model finds.

Buying Great Lakes

Crompton's $1.8 billion purchase of Great Lakes Chemical will create third-largest publicly held U.S. specialty chemical firm.

March 11, 2005

No Clear Skies

Deadlocked Senate committee effectively kills President Bush’s air.

March 10, 2005

Clayton Callis Dead At 81

Past ACS president and board member gave years of service to the society.

Hans Bethe

Nobel Laureate and pioneering physicist has died.

Seeking Less Acrylamide In Food

WHO, FAO recommend reducing acrylamide levels in food as a precaution.

Bringing Footprinting To The Masses

Free software package eases quantitation of solution structural data for nucleic acids and protein-nucleic acid complexes.

Dow, Pfizer In Expression Pact

Deal is second Pfizer drug technology deal involving engineered microbes.

Evotec Buys Back Drug Unit

Firm says deal creates a fully integrated biotechnology company.

March 9, 2005

Getting To Know Indian Pharma

Conference and trade fair reveal opportunities and limitations for India's pharmaceutical sector.

March 8, 2005

Glaxo Drugs Seized By FDA

Products are made in plant with history of manufacturing violations.

Allocating Pollution

Power generators are split over how emission allowances should get divvied up.

March 7, 2005

ACS Broadens Article Access

Conditions set for free availability one year after publication.

Cell Trapping

Method for encapsulating cells and organelles allows assays or other reactions to be performed.

Hot Bubble

Researchers find evidence of a plasma generated by acoustic cavitation in concentrated sulfuric acid.

MS Drug Pulled

Biogen Idec and Elan halt marketing of Tysabri following a patient's death.

Persian Gulf Partners

A flurry of petrochemical projects pairs Western companies with local producers.

NIH Protest

Agency scientists speak out against its conflict-of-interest rules.

March 4, 2005

Johnson Tapped As EPA Chief

Bush nominates career employee for administrator's job.

Agent Orange

Chemical firms have asked a judge to dismiss a class-action suit filed by Vietnamese plaintiffs.

Nanotech Policy

U.K. government plans come under fire from scientific and environmental groups.

PFOA Settlement

DuPont will pay $107.6 million to settle a perfluorooctanoic acid class-action suit in West Virginia.

March 3, 2005

Training For The Nanoworld

Louisiana Tech launches first nanosystems engineering undergraduate degree.

Nations Seek Mercury Cuts

UNEP conference promotes voluntary emissions reductions by chemical industry, power plants.

Lanxess Invests In China Projects

New plants are part of German firm's plan for the country.

Shin-Etsu Boosts Methylcellulose

$190 million project continues Japanese firm's investment push.

March 2, 2005

No-Prep Mass Spec

New atmospheric pressure ionization method is suitable for security and defense applications.

March 1, 2005

A Vision Realized

DSM Chairman Elverding reflects on completion of revamp program.

Sankyo, Daiichi Confirm Merger

New company will be number two drugmaker in Japan after Takeda.

Scientists Criticize Microbiological Research Policy

Protesters ask NIH to broaden definition of biodefense to include more public-health-based research.