Bringing Chemistry to Life artwork

Bringing Chemistry to Life

48 episodes - English - Latest episode: 16 days ago - ★★★★★ - 9 ratings

Conversations with the brightest chemical minds — Join Dr. Paolo Braiuca, Director of Global Market Development at Thermo Scientific Chemicals, as he chats with some of the most fascinating and influential scientists in the world. Learn about their personal stories, notable contributions, and an enthusiasm for discovery that unites them all. Covering various fields and industries, this is a podcast for anyone who wants to learn more about science and the brilliant minds advancing it.

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Episodes

Cross-coupling, catalysis and one chemist’s move to tech

March 13, 2024 14:00 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MB

Most of us don’t grow up across the street from a chemistry building or know from an early age that we want to be a scientist, but Alan Dyke, VP of Business Development for ProChem, Inc. (CTO of Boulder Scientific Company at the time of the interview) did and became a chemist. Dr. Alan Dyke, former colleague, and friend of Paolo’s, shares his career path and discusses the history and current state of the field of catalysis.  With a father that taught university-level chemistry, and a brothe...

Flip the script. Meet your host, Paolo.

February 21, 2024 15:00 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MB

Bringing Chemistry to Life is as much about the people behind the science as it is about the science itself. We’ve been remiss in sharing a bit more about the creator and host! In this unique episode we flip the script and move Paolo from the host chair to the guest chair to hear his story.  From Paolo’s childhood memories watching his father fix electronics and his dreams of being in the NBA, he chats about developing into a skilled bioorganic chemist, working in biocatalysis and his contr...

Shining a photochemical light on undergraduate research

January 31, 2024 15:00 - 33 minutes - 30.2 MB

With four seasons under our belt, we’ve heard some amazing stories about how our guests have found, or often “stumbled” into, their careers in science. We’ve also had many conversations where past guests have passionately discussed the importance of their early career teachers as well as what teaching does for them in their current careers. This conversation is squarely centered on these two topics, with a good dose of photochemistry mixed in too.  We meet Dr. Izzy Lamb, Assistant Professor...

A high-performance career in liquid chromatography

January 12, 2024 16:00 - 33 minutes - 31 MB

After realizing at a young age that rock and roll might be a better hobby than a career, our guest chose chemistry and chromatography as his path, and he’s rocked that career choice! In this fun and engaging conversation, you’ll meet Frank Steiner, PhD, Senior Manager of Product Applications, and Scientific Advisor at Thermo Fisher Scientific, who has earned much respect for his contributions to the field of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). He and his team are customer number ...

AI and the man catalyzing a bio-revolution

December 20, 2023 15:00 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MB

Protein biology has always been grounded in the relationship between structure and function but how we determine structure has changed dramatically. While it’s still common to crystallize a protein for X-ray diffraction and then back calculate its structure, supercomputing-powered, AI-driven tools have revolutionized approaches to getting a protein structure and engineer proteins for uses such as biocatalysis. Amazing right, but how? By using wet lab data to train and then compute, protein s...

Batteries unplugged: past, present and the electrifying future

November 29, 2023 15:00 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MB

Electricity undeniably changed the world and enabled countless other technologies. Now, via storage and mobile access to electrical energy, batteries are positioned to further enable us as a species. So, it is the perfect time to get to know battery technology innovator and entrepreneur, Dr. Simon Engelke, Founder and Chair of Battery Associates, as he shares his passion for sustainable battery innovation. Any battery enthusiast will feel recharged by this electrifying conversation about the...

The most famous unknown — the periodic table

August 09, 2023 15:00 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MB

Visit https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl and use the code S4_BCTL in August, StyTun3d in September, BrgChem2Lif in October, or AlwysL...

C.R.E.A.M. – Chemistry rules everything around me

July 19, 2023 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MB

Visit https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl and use the code PaoloRKS in July, or S4_BCTL in August, to register for your free Bringing ...

The electrifying chemistry of the nitrogen cycle

June 28, 2023 15:00 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MB

Visit https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl and use the code PaoloRKS in July to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shi...

From an F in chemistry to 40 years in chemicals

June 07, 2023 15:00 - 33 minutes - 31 MB

Visit https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl and use the code CoolCh3mShirt in June to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life ...

Electronics for the human body

May 17, 2023 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.5 MB

Visit https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl and use the code Scienc3Fwd in May to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-sh...

The Extra-Terrestrial Chemist

April 26, 2023 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.6 MB

Visit https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the guest content sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl and use the codes below to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt (April = ...

Women in chemistry: learnings from one of the greatest

April 05, 2023 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.6 MB

Visit https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl  and use the code BCTLshirt to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt dur...

Chemistry, Computers, and Humans

March 15, 2023 06:00 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MB

Visit https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the guest content sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl  and use the code Chem2Life to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt durin...

The Father of Green Chemistry

February 22, 2023 16:00 - 34 minutes - 31.1 MB

Visit https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt.  This is a big one. When one ...

The Chemists' Charisma

February 01, 2023 16:00 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MB

Visit https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and guest content and resources, which includes links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt.  We open Season 4 with a un...

On solid state materials, electrochemistry and the importance of roots

July 20, 2022 15:00 - 37 minutes - 34.5 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the  episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest.  You can access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Some people have an aura, which is ...

Energy harvesting and self-sustainable greenhouses

July 06, 2022 15:00 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the  episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest.  You can access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! While most love adventure, it still...

Drugging the undruggable

June 22, 2022 15:00 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the  episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest.  You can access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Chemical biology is a relatively re...

Shining a new light on chemistry

June 08, 2022 15:00 - 31 minutes - 29 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the  episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest.  You can access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Entrepreneurship in the blood, a fi...

A fresh perspective on the development of new drugs

May 25, 2022 15:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the  episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest.  You can access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Antibiotics are an incredibly impor...

On the COVID pill and other process chemistry tales

May 11, 2022 15:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the  episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest.  You can access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Process chemists are the silent her...

Perovskites and the future of science in Mexico

April 27, 2022 15:00 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the  episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest.  You can access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Perovskites are somewhat ambiguous ...

Imagination and the chemistry of the things around us

April 13, 2022 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.6 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the  episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest.  You can access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! Alaaeddin is someone you can spend ...

Making impossible molecules

March 30, 2022 15:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the  episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest.  You can access the extended video version of this episode via our YouTube channel to hear, and see, more of the conversation! For decades chemists have challenge...

Fuel the world with light - the wonders of nano-magnesium

March 16, 2022 15:00 - 28 minutes - 26 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast/ to access the extended video version of this episode and the  episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. You can also access the video version of this episode via https://youtu.be/LtWghIdoeLo.  One of the most difficult scientific concepts to grasp is how things behav...

Season 3 Trailer

February 16, 2022 16:00 - 4 minutes - 4.16 MB

Over 80,000 Laboratory Chemicals are now consolidated under the Thermo Scientific brand. This unified portfolio is now available at thermofisher.com/chemicals along with everything else you need to focus on your science.  All of our podcast guests have been recognized by the C&EN Talented 12 program, presented by Thermo Fisher Scientific.  If you know an up and coming rock star of science we encourage you to nominate them for consideration in the selection of the 2022 class of Talented 12. ...

The chemical immunology revolution

October 20, 2021 15:00 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.alfa.com/en/chemistry-podcasts/ to access our episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. Dr. Lingyin Li is strong and determined and smart and brave. She knows that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and that challenges are just steps towards success. While she survived her fight with cancer, many...

Bioorthogonal chemistry, tuberculosis, and making the best of opportunities

October 06, 2021 15:00 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.alfa.com/en/chemistry-podcasts/ to access our episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. Sometimes you feel like you missed an opportunity, or didn’t make the best out of it, or sometimes you feel like life is unfair and doesn’t offer any attractive chance. Then you hear stories like Mireille Kamariza’s...

Materials of tomorrow to recycle materials of today

September 22, 2021 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.alfa.com/en/chemistry-podcasts/ to access our episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. Every day, tons of potentially valuable materials are discarded in various waste streams simply because recycling them is more expensive than their recoverable value. Considering that finite resources such as precio...

Sustainability as an entrepreneurial choice

September 08, 2021 15:00 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.alfa.com/en/chemistry-podcasts/ to access our episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. Sustainability is a trendy word that is often abused, especially when speaking about chemistry. Most commodity chemicals and their highly integrated value chains remain rooted in the oil feedstock. Until this change...

Fresh urban water

August 25, 2021 15:00 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MB

Great scientists look at the world around them, identify problems and think about how their area of expertise can provide a solution. This is what Jessica Ray does. In her native St. Louis, she experienced regular urban flooding and grew up familiar with the problem of managing urban wastewater. When, later in life, her studies took her to California, she experienced the opposite problem of severe droughts. This is how she became interested in urban water and started applying her chemical en...

The charm of the forgotten elements

August 11, 2021 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.alfa.com/en/chemistry-podcasts/ to access our episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. There is one thing Robert Gilliard, Jr. refutes categorically; that there is no innovation in chemistry. As an innovator, he has made a career on the risky proposition of finding value in a part of the periodic tabl...

Questioning the limits of Moore’s law

July 28, 2021 15:00 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.alfa.com/en/chemistry-podcasts/ to access our episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. The unstoppable progress in computational power that we have experienced in the last few decades, and that has changed the world as we know it, is almost entirely due to the relentless efforts of cramming an increas...

The chemistry of outer space

July 14, 2021 15:00 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.alfa.com/en/chemistry-podcasts/ to access our episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. The only chemistry we know is what we can experience on our planet, or is it? Brett McGuire is among the pioneers looking beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and discovering a surprising and fascinatingly complex chemical...

Rethinking catalysis

June 30, 2021 15:00 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.alfa.com/en/chemistry-podcasts/ to access our episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. Modern synthetic chemistry relies on a rich toolbox of chemical transformations, among which catalytic reactions play a prominent role. Yet, despite all the many successes, innovation in the field has seemingly slow...

Why do things happen where they do?

June 16, 2021 15:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.alfa.com/en/chemistry-podcasts/ to access our episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. Laura-Isobel McCall is a chemical cartographer. She has a fundamental question: why are chemical responses to an external stimulus, such as a pathogen, different depending on the organ, tissue and even different are...

Chemistry: a modern American dream

June 02, 2021 15:00 - 35 minutes - 32.1 MB

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.alfa.com/en/chemistry-podcasts/ to access our episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest. There are exciting stories of life-changing experiences thanks to science, or through science. And then there is Osvaldo’s story. Osvaldo Gutierrez, now assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Universit...

Nanometric mega-libraries

May 05, 2021 15:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MB

For decades the pharmaceutical industry has synthesized millions of molecular entities in the pursuit of novel biological activities. These huge compound libraries have always been considered a treasure trove of potential new drugs for a plethora of new therapeutic targets. With the huge progress in laboratory automation and high-throughput technology over the last decade, library screening remains a key drug discovery strategy. The size of these libraries and their handling present however ...

Watching chemistry as it happens

April 21, 2021 06:00 - 31 minutes - 28.4 MB

Life is the result of an incredibly complex mix of chemical reactions, all happening at the same time, influencing each other. These apparently chaotic and incomprehensible systems are elegantly regulated at organ, tissue and even cellular and sub-cellular level. Most of these chemical phenomena are not fully understood and the scale and complexity of the micro-environment where they happen often prevent scientific observations without perturbing them. This is where out-of-the-box chemical t...

Chemical computers and other tales from a theoretical mind

April 07, 2021 15:00 - 34 minutes - 32 MB

Theoretical chemistry is one of those subjects that can intimidate even the most passionate experimental chemist. Complex theories rooted in super-advanced mathematics to model a chemical bond length are not everyone’s cup of tea. Yet it does not have to be like that and it takes brilliant minds like Brenda Rubenstein’s to make it so elegantly obvious. Brenda and Paolo’s discussion is as approachable as it gets; a surprisingly eye-opening discovery of how theory can have profound effects on ...

Stronger magnets, stronger science

March 24, 2021 15:00 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MB

Since the elucidation of the DNA structure by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1951, the importance of understanding the three-dimensional structure of biomolecules has become obvious. Over the last few decades scientists have resolved the structure of thousands of complex biomolecules enabling incredible innovations in drug design, biological and medical sciences. X-Ray crystallography has been the key technique, but in recent years Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) has emerged as an additi...

One person’s waste is another's treasure

January 06, 2021 16:00 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MB

80% of waste water gets discharged untreated, which causes some of the most urgent environmental issues facing our planet. However, Dr. William Tarpeh, nominated as one of The Root 100's most influential African Americans, views waste water is an incredible resource that contains many valuable components and represents an untapped economic opportunity in our world of finite resources.  This episode is an intriguing discovery of how chemical engineering can transform our energy-intense linea...

What happens in the microscale doesn’t stay in the microscale

December 09, 2020 16:00 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MB

Common phenomena, observed by most in their daily experience, can be surprisingly misunderstood and even mysterious! Genuine curiosity, an open mind, and good dose of creativity are the necessary ingredients for the most exciting scientific discoveries. This is the take-home message of our fascinating discussion with Dr. Lauren Zarzar, who studies microscale systems and their macroscopic effects. We find out what is behind the iridescence at the air-water interface, how this can be reproduce...

Super smooth microchips

November 25, 2020 16:00 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MB

If you thought chemistry is basically just boiling stinky mixtures in a flask, this is the episode for you. There is no better demonstration for how chemistry is foundational to practically all sciences and technologies. What Dr. Tina Li does at CMC Materials is finding new ways to ensure semiconductor layers in electronic components manufacturing are as smooth as possible, to allow the deposition of as many layers as possible on a single wafer. This is the key to enable increased complexity...

There's chemistry in the air!

November 11, 2020 16:00 - 30 minutes - 27.5 MB

If you thought a career in science means spending your best years in a dark laboratory for long, boring hours doing routine experiments, think again! Dr. Cora Young, from York University in Toronto, does a significant part of her environmental chemistry work in the field. From measuring air quality in residential and business spaces, to going high altitude on airplanes, or doing measurements in forests and even in the Arctic.  In this episode, we discuss research in the growing field of env...

Reinventing plastics, one reaction at a time

October 28, 2020 15:00 - 30 minutes - 27.5 MB

Polymer chemistry has been one of the main disruptive forces in the last few decades, having a profound impact on materials used in all applications, enabling new technologies and profoundly impacting everyone’s life. Polymers are at the core of modern material science and despite having generated some concerning environmental challenges, it’s hard to imagine a future without them.  Dr. Leibfarth is one of the most creative minds in polymer chemistry today and he is leading some incredible ...

Human milk - it's a matter of chemistry

October 11, 2020 07:37 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MB

Human milk provides both nutritional and non-nutritional components tailored to the specific need of the infant at all phases of growth. It is a wonderful example of personalised medicine and diet and its complexity is only partially understood. The oligosaccharides contained in breastmilk have only recently emerged as potent pro- and anti-biotics and they are proven to have effects on several other physiological mechanisms and biological pathways, such as the immune system. We discuss with...