Bethany Halford
@bethanyhalford.bsky.social
Science writer and senior correspondent at C&EN. Opinions here are mine and mine alone (she/her).
Signal: bethanyhalford.29
Signal: bethanyhalford.29
Reposted by Bethany Halford
So, remember that MAHA summit 2 weeks ago that @statnews.com broke the news of and @maxkozlov.bsky.social somehow got into for Nature, even though it was closed to the press?
The organizers posted the entire 6.5-hour conference proceedings to YouTube last week.
cen.acs.org/policy/MAHA-...
The organizers posted the entire 6.5-hour conference proceedings to YouTube last week.
cen.acs.org/policy/MAHA-...
At MAHA Summit, the NIH head pushes for research that risks failure
And 4 other takeaways for life scientists from the ‘off-the-record’ Make America Healthy Again conference
cen.acs.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:58 PM
So, remember that MAHA summit 2 weeks ago that @statnews.com broke the news of and @maxkozlov.bsky.social somehow got into for Nature, even though it was closed to the press?
The organizers posted the entire 6.5-hour conference proceedings to YouTube last week.
cen.acs.org/policy/MAHA-...
The organizers posted the entire 6.5-hour conference proceedings to YouTube last week.
cen.acs.org/policy/MAHA-...
Reposted by Bethany Halford
Do you have recipe books with annotations and stains on the most popular pages? Me too, and so does the University of Manchester. Except their recipe books are medieval medical manuals.
@bethanyhalford.bsky.social for @cenmag.bsky.social
🧪 #chemsky
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
@bethanyhalford.bsky.social for @cenmag.bsky.social
🧪 #chemsky
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
Proteins plucked from the pages of Renaissance recipes
Analyses of German medical manuals from 1531 reveal what ingredients those who handled the books used
cen.acs.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Do you have recipe books with annotations and stains on the most popular pages? Me too, and so does the University of Manchester. Except their recipe books are medieval medical manuals.
@bethanyhalford.bsky.social for @cenmag.bsky.social
🧪 #chemsky
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
@bethanyhalford.bsky.social for @cenmag.bsky.social
🧪 #chemsky
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
Just as the page of a preferred pie crust recipe bears traces of flour and butter, the pages of two German medical manuals from 1531 hold traces of the ingredients used by medicine makers, a proteomic analysis from @stefanhanss.bsky.social and coworkers reveals
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
Proteins plucked from the pages of Renaissance recipes
Analyses of German medical manuals from 1531 reveal what ingredients those who handled the books used
cen.acs.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Just as the page of a preferred pie crust recipe bears traces of flour and butter, the pages of two German medical manuals from 1531 hold traces of the ingredients used by medicine makers, a proteomic analysis from @stefanhanss.bsky.social and coworkers reveals
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
Bitopertin was once a failed drug candidate gathering dust in Roche's portfolio. Thanks to work from Disc Medicine, FDA could soon approve it to treat a rare blood disorder. Read @rowanwalrath.bsky.social's excellent story in @cenmag.bsky.social.
How Disc Medicine rescued a discarded drug candidate cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... @cenmag.bsky.social
How Disc Medicine rescued a discarded drug candidate
Bitopertin could give people with the rare disease erythropoietic protoporphyria their day in the sun
cen.acs.org
November 24, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Bitopertin was once a failed drug candidate gathering dust in Roche's portfolio. Thanks to work from Disc Medicine, FDA could soon approve it to treat a rare blood disorder. Read @rowanwalrath.bsky.social's excellent story in @cenmag.bsky.social.
Monet, Munch, and Pissarro all used emerald green paint made from copper acetoarsenite pigment. Chemists have discovered that this pigment breaks down via two distinct chemical pathways. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
How to prevent emerald-green oil paint from breaking down
Chemists decipher dual degradation pathways for a once popular pigment
cen.acs.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Monet, Munch, and Pissarro all used emerald green paint made from copper acetoarsenite pigment. Chemists have discovered that this pigment breaks down via two distinct chemical pathways. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
Hey #chemsky - it's time to vote for your favorite molecule in @cenmag.bsky.social's Molecule of the Year contest (curated by the amazing @bribarbu.bsky.social).
Some strong candidates in here. I'm excited to see which molecule will win.
cen.acs.org/synthesis/Mo...
Some strong candidates in here. I'm excited to see which molecule will win.
cen.acs.org/synthesis/Mo...
Meet the molecules of the year 2025
C&EN editors’ annual round-up of spectacular molecules we’ve covered in the past year
cen.acs.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Hey #chemsky - it's time to vote for your favorite molecule in @cenmag.bsky.social's Molecule of the Year contest (curated by the amazing @bribarbu.bsky.social).
Some strong candidates in here. I'm excited to see which molecule will win.
cen.acs.org/synthesis/Mo...
Some strong candidates in here. I'm excited to see which molecule will win.
cen.acs.org/synthesis/Mo...
Reposted by Bethany Halford
Personal opinion that I am proud to have managed to get through as the lede of this story: differentiating between diastereomers is better left to chemists than Congress.
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
Why synthetic cannabinoids appear in the US funding bill
The law that ended the federal government shutdown also closes a loophole in cannabis regulation
cen.acs.org
November 18, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Personal opinion that I am proud to have managed to get through as the lede of this story: differentiating between diastereomers is better left to chemists than Congress.
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
Reposted by Bethany Halford
Friends, what is the best text/reference about dementia in old age available?
Please RT, serious responses only please - thank you!
🧪
Please RT, serious responses only please - thank you!
🧪
November 13, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Friends, what is the best text/reference about dementia in old age available?
Please RT, serious responses only please - thank you!
🧪
Please RT, serious responses only please - thank you!
🧪
Reposted by Bethany Halford
There’s a lot of historically and culturally significant stuff captured on audio (and video) tape. But tapes are mass-market items that weren’t made with long-term archiving in mind.
My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social explores the chemistry involved in preserving them:
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social explores the chemistry involved in preserving them:
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
How preservation scientists are using chemistry to save sounds of the past
Preservation scientists are using polymer chemistry to help prevent old audio and video tapes from degrading beyond recognition
cen.acs.org
November 13, 2025 at 3:47 PM
There’s a lot of historically and culturally significant stuff captured on audio (and video) tape. But tapes are mass-market items that weren’t made with long-term archiving in mind.
My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social explores the chemistry involved in preserving them:
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social explores the chemistry involved in preserving them:
cen.acs.org/analytical-c...
Sam, stealer of the office chair, who I inherited from my mother in 2017 when he was 19 years old. Gone since 2019.
November 13, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Sam, stealer of the office chair, who I inherited from my mother in 2017 when he was 19 years old. Gone since 2019.
I love a good complex natural product. This one has two α-tropolones, 10 asymmetric stereocenters, and a a labile hemiketal. After a longstanding effort, chemists in Seth Herzon's lab have made (–)-gukulenin A. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/synthesis/me...
cen.acs.org/synthesis/me...
A guide to making gukulenin A
3-component assembly builds a natural product that could fight cancer
cen.acs.org
November 13, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I love a good complex natural product. This one has two α-tropolones, 10 asymmetric stereocenters, and a a labile hemiketal. After a longstanding effort, chemists in Seth Herzon's lab have made (–)-gukulenin A. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/synthesis/me...
cen.acs.org/synthesis/me...
Reposted by Bethany Halford
Shiru, one of C&EN's #10StartupsToWatch, uses artificial intelligence to discover proteins for food ingredients and other applications. cen.acs.org/business/foo... #chemsky 🧪
10 Start-Ups to Watch 2025: Shiru searches for natural proteins to create more-sustainable food and cosmetics
AI mines a database of 77 million natural proteins for novel ingredients
cen.acs.org
November 13, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Shiru, one of C&EN's #10StartupsToWatch, uses artificial intelligence to discover proteins for food ingredients and other applications. cen.acs.org/business/foo... #chemsky 🧪
In the world of proteins that drive cancer, Ras proteins and PI3Kα are major players. Several companies are developing molecules that break up this protein power couple. My latest short news feature for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
A breakup strategy that’s inspiring clinical candidates for cancer
Scientists seek molecules that will disrupt the Ras-PI3Kα interaction
cen.acs.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:36 PM
In the world of proteins that drive cancer, Ras proteins and PI3Kα are major players. Several companies are developing molecules that break up this protein power couple. My latest short news feature for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
Atropisomers are popular as chiral ligands and have been showing up in drugs and drug candidates. Making just one atropisomer isn’t trivial, though. That could change, thanks to @alisonnarayan.bsky.social and @narayanlab.bsky.social. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/synthesis/bi...
cen.acs.org/synthesis/bi...
An enzyme gives atropisomers a specific twist
Biocatalytic approach could be used to make chiral ligands and drugs
cen.acs.org
November 12, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Atropisomers are popular as chiral ligands and have been showing up in drugs and drug candidates. Making just one atropisomer isn’t trivial, though. That could change, thanks to @alisonnarayan.bsky.social and @narayanlab.bsky.social. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/synthesis/bi...
cen.acs.org/synthesis/bi...
Sharing @cenmag.bsky.social's Holiday gift ideas with the new collage art
cen.acs.org/business/con...
cen.acs.org/business/con...
Holiday gift ideas
Chemistry-themed goodies for the scientists in your life
cen.acs.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Sharing @cenmag.bsky.social's Holiday gift ideas with the new collage art
cen.acs.org/business/con...
cen.acs.org/business/con...
Have a bit of #holiday #FridayFun with the 2025 #Newscripts Gift Guide in @cenmag.bsky.social. Find a chemistry-themed gift for the scientist on your list.
#chemsky
cen.acs.org/business/con...
#chemsky
cen.acs.org/business/con...
Holiday gift ideas
Chemistry-themed goodies for the scientists in your life
cen.acs.org
November 7, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Have a bit of #holiday #FridayFun with the 2025 #Newscripts Gift Guide in @cenmag.bsky.social. Find a chemistry-themed gift for the scientist on your list.
#chemsky
cen.acs.org/business/con...
#chemsky
cen.acs.org/business/con...
Blue light special 🔵!
Let there be light-activated arynes!
Check out my write-up for @cenmag.bsky.social of
@cortnieroberts.bsky.social and her team's illuminating new work in Nature:
cen.acs.org/synthesis/re...
Check out my write-up for @cenmag.bsky.social of
@cortnieroberts.bsky.social and her team's illuminating new work in Nature:
cen.acs.org/synthesis/re...
Let there be light-activated arynes
Making these strained intermediates just got easier, thanks to new precursors that react in the presence of blue light
cen.acs.org
November 5, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Blue light special 🔵!
With chocolate prices on the rise, perhaps you're giving out gummies this Halloween. @mannyfoxmorone.bsky.social has the all the squishy details about what makes gummies so gummable.
Leading up to Halloween we ask, Why do some gummy brands rock, and why do others feel like you're chewing plastic?
🎃🍬👻 Read my little explainer for @cenmag.bsky.social: cen.acs.org/food/food-in...
🎃🍬👻 Read my little explainer for @cenmag.bsky.social: cen.acs.org/food/food-in...
October 28, 2025 at 5:29 PM
With chocolate prices on the rise, perhaps you're giving out gummies this Halloween. @mannyfoxmorone.bsky.social has the all the squishy details about what makes gummies so gummable.
Reposted by Bethany Halford
I love it when there's advances in chemistry that involve stuff you learn about in high school.
It's been a big year for chemists trying to turn PTFE (better know as Teflon) into something that won't hang out in a landfill for 1,000 years. The latest development in this area uses chunks of sodium metal. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/materials/po...
cen.acs.org/materials/po...
This reaction turns Teflon into toothpaste’s key ingredient
Grinding PTFE with chunks of sodium metal creates sodium fluoride in a solvent-free reaction that aims to avoid landfills
cen.acs.org
October 27, 2025 at 8:44 PM
I love it when there's advances in chemistry that involve stuff you learn about in high school.
#chemsky - Is there interest in a longer piece about all the research happening in this area?
It's been a big year for chemists trying to turn PTFE (better know as Teflon) into something that won't hang out in a landfill for 1,000 years. The latest development in this area uses chunks of sodium metal. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/materials/po...
cen.acs.org/materials/po...
This reaction turns Teflon into toothpaste’s key ingredient
Grinding PTFE with chunks of sodium metal creates sodium fluoride in a solvent-free reaction that aims to avoid landfills
cen.acs.org
October 27, 2025 at 7:51 PM
#chemsky - Is there interest in a longer piece about all the research happening in this area?
It's been a big year for chemists trying to turn PTFE (better know as Teflon) into something that won't hang out in a landfill for 1,000 years. The latest development in this area uses chunks of sodium metal. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/materials/po...
cen.acs.org/materials/po...
This reaction turns Teflon into toothpaste’s key ingredient
Grinding PTFE with chunks of sodium metal creates sodium fluoride in a solvent-free reaction that aims to avoid landfills
cen.acs.org
October 27, 2025 at 7:46 PM
It's been a big year for chemists trying to turn PTFE (better know as Teflon) into something that won't hang out in a landfill for 1,000 years. The latest development in this area uses chunks of sodium metal. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/materials/po...
cen.acs.org/materials/po...
Reposted by Bethany Halford
Turns out, boron-based heterocycles are anything but boring! In fact, some of them are pretty magical...1,2-oxaborines, for example, can be used as precursors to 11(!) other ring systems!
Read more in my latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/synthesis/sh...
Read more in my latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/synthesis/sh...
These shape-shifting rings create customizable cores
1,2-oxaborines can shift into 11 different ring shapes to make modifying molecular cores easy
cen.acs.org
October 13, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Turns out, boron-based heterocycles are anything but boring! In fact, some of them are pretty magical...1,2-oxaborines, for example, can be used as precursors to 11(!) other ring systems!
Read more in my latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/synthesis/sh...
Read more in my latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/synthesis/sh...
When my colleague @maxhenrybarnhart.bsky.social told us he was going to get dengue, I wasn't sure he was thinking clearly (or if @cenmag.bsky.social was paying him enough). But his interesting piece on clinical trials shows he was onto a good story. cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
I was injected with dengue virus to learn about clinical trials
I became a test subject in a clinical trial for a new dengue treatment. Here’s what I discovered
cen.acs.org
October 10, 2025 at 1:49 PM
When my colleague @maxhenrybarnhart.bsky.social told us he was going to get dengue, I wasn't sure he was thinking clearly (or if @cenmag.bsky.social was paying him enough). But his interesting piece on clinical trials shows he was onto a good story. cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
Behold the biological beauty of the naked mole rat. These rodents live around 37 years—10 times as long as their relatives of similar size. Scientists have identified one of the molecular mechanisms that gives these wrinkly darlings longevity. For @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
The naked mole rat’s molecular secrets to a long life
Just 4 amino acids in an enzyme associated with DNA repair give the rodents longevity
cen.acs.org
October 9, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Behold the biological beauty of the naked mole rat. These rodents live around 37 years—10 times as long as their relatives of similar size. Scientists have identified one of the molecular mechanisms that gives these wrinkly darlings longevity. For @cenmag.bsky.social
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
Does Dolly Parton read Terry Pratchett? Is she this world's Granny Weatherwax?
October 8, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Does Dolly Parton read Terry Pratchett? Is she this world's Granny Weatherwax?