Topic

Bioorthogonal chemistry

Reactions designed to proceed inside living systems without disturbing native biochemistry, and the long-running problem of controlling when and where they fire.

Current clusters

science1 distinct publisher

One iodine atom turns phenylalanine into a switch that palladium flips

Caging chemistry needs a heteroatom to grab hold of, and phenylalanine offers none. So the authors hung an iodine on its ring, then used palladium to strip it off and switch a HER2 affibody's binding back on.

Publishers:nature.com

Reality

Evidence44
Adoption: Insufficient
Hype gap+18
Incentives57

science1 distinct publisher

An electrode switches on a cyclopropanol handle that labels glutamate and aspartate

Held inert inside a live cell until a mild voltage unmasks a reactive ketone, the handle gives chemists a switch for when labelling happens, though the published abstract carries no efficiency or selectivity numbers to judge it by.

Publishers:nature.com

Reality

Evidence45
Adoption: Insufficient
Hype gap