Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions

ACS’s award winning saga of chemistry for life — chemistry that truly matters.

More about this series
Global Challenges Chemistry Solutions, launched in 2008, received a coveted Gold Medal as the best podcast in the national awards competition sponsored by Association TRENDS, the national newspaper for associations.

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Global Challenges continues in 2009, with updates to each of our 12 topics. Submit suggestions on new research to feature in the updates to m_woods@acs.org.

List of topics and updates

Current Episode

Promoting Public Health: Saving lives with the first dry powder inhalable
vaccine for measles

November 20, 2009

Scientists have developed the first dry powder
inhalable vaccine for measles. The inhaler is easy
to use.

Credit: Aktiv-Dry, LLC

(High-resolution version)

Summary

The first dry powder inhalable vaccine for measles is
moving toward clinical trials next year in India, where
the disease still sickens millions of infants and children
and kills almost 200,000 annually, scientists are
reporting. Robert Sievers, Ph.D., who leads the team
that developed the dry-powder vaccine, said it’s a
perfect fit for use in back-roads areas of developing
countries. Those areas often lack the electricity
for refrigeration, clean water and sterile needles
needed to administer traditional liquid vaccines.
More…

Previous Episodes

Providing safe foods: “Killer spices” provide eco-friendly pesticides for organic fruits and veggies
Mention rosemary, thyme, clove, and mint and most people think of a delicious meal. These well-known spices are emerging as organic agriculture’s key weapons against insect pests. Scientists in Canada are reporting new research on these so-called “essential oil pesticides” or “killer spices.” These pesticides have added to the crop-preserving arsenal of organic growers and offer several advantages over their counterparts — they’re readily available and don’t require lots of regulatory approval.
And they’re safer for farm workers, who are at high risk for pesticide exposure. More…

Promoting Public Health: Sandcastle worm’s secrets could yield new medical adhesive
Scientists have copied the natural glue secreted by a tiny sea creature called the sandcastle worm in an effort to develop a long-sought medical adhesive needed to repair bones shattered in battlefield injuries, car crashes and other accidents. Russell Stewart, Ph.D., and colleagues duplicated the glue that sandcastle worms (Phragmatopoma californica) use while building their homes in intertidal surf by sticking together bits of sand and broken sea shells. More…

Confronting Climate Change: “Green” roofs can help fight global warming

How would you like to do your part in helping to slow down global warming? If you live in the city and you like fresh veggies, herbs and flowers, how about planting a garden on your roof? “Green” roofs, those increasingly popular urban rooftops covered with plants, could help fight global climate change, scientists in Michigan are reporting. More…

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