Highlights
C&EN: Precise deuteration eases ‘heavy drug’ synthesis
10 September 2026Nickel catalyst swaps hydrogen for deuterium to produce drugs that are metabolized more slowly.
Engineering: Can ‘Superwood’ Replace Concrete and Steel?
25 August 2026Engineered woods aim to curb construction’s climate emissions.
ACS Central Science: These Graphene Experts Are Trying to Close the Reproducibility Gap in Two-Dimensional Materials Research
14 May 2026Too much work on graphene and related materials cannot be repeated — a problem that wastes time and holds back commercialization. New rules could help solve it.
C&EN Talented 12: Aisulu Aitbekova
13 May 2026Combining light and heat to produce sustainable chemicals.
C&EN Talented 12: Martina Benešová-Schäfer
13 May 2026Building targeting systems for radioactive cancer treatments.
TESTIMONIALS
“As an editor and reporter, Mark Peplow is fast, accurate, and versatile. He covers science policy and pure research with equal passion, and his writing combines a scientist’s precision with a journalist’s verve.” Tim Appenzeller
Former Chief Magazine Editor at Nature, now News Editor at Science
"Mark guided me through some of the most challenging stories I've written. These are pieces I might not have attempted were it not for his steady editorial hand." Linda Nordling
Freelance Journalist, South Africa
“Working with Mark is never anything other than a pleasure. He is the kind of editor that writers hope for: able to identify what needs fixing and what doesn’t, bringing to bear a wealth of knowledge, always clear, prompt and easy to talk with. Much of that comes from being a splendid writer himself.”
Philip Ball
Freelance Science Writer
Author Archives: Mark Peplow
C&EN: Diamonds really are forever
At pressures five times greater than at the Earth’s core, diamond still retains its usual structure.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Diamonds really are forever
C&EN: Catalyst boosts prospects for fuel-cell vehicles
Platinum-molybdenum carbide spurs water-gas shift reaction, solving catalyst poisoning problem.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Catalyst boosts prospects for fuel-cell vehicles
C&EN: Surface swabbing helps researchers get a handle on COVID-19 cases
Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 on high-contact surfaces could enable community surveillance to preempt outbreaks.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Surface swabbing helps researchers get a handle on COVID-19 cases
C&EN: Light-powered hydrogen sensor plays it cool
Sensitive chip uses palladium-decorated titanium dioxide to detect traces of flammable gas at room temperature.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Light-powered hydrogen sensor plays it cool
C&EN: Can the UK’s ambitious Operation Moonshot screening program for COVID-19 achieve liftoff?
Researchers question accuracy of rapid antigen tests and criticize government’s lack of transparency in multibillion-pound program.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Can the UK’s ambitious Operation Moonshot screening program for COVID-19 achieve liftoff?
C&EN: Cheaper cryo-EM on the horizon
Thermo Fisher hopes $1 million microscope could broaden access to microscopy method used to determine protein structures.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Cheaper cryo-EM on the horizon
C&EN: Oxidant may offer a boost to greener rockets
An alternative to polluting ammonium perchlorate shows promise as a propellant ingredient.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Oxidant may offer a boost to greener rockets
C&EN: How one university built a COVID-19 screening system
Campus testing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign holds important lessons about the strengths and limitations of routine testing regimen.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: How one university built a COVID-19 screening system
C&EN: Click chemistry sees first use in humans
Targeting mechanism could help to avoid side effects of powerful anticancer drug.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Click chemistry sees first use in humans
C&EN: Database brings clarity to chemical weapons lists
Molecular structures and other identifiers will help to compare and contrast chemical warfare agents controlled by three different international frameworks.
Posted in Highlights
Comments Off on C&EN: Database brings clarity to chemical weapons lists