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‘Almost magical’: chemists can now move single atoms in and out of a molecule’s core

An explosion of skeletal editing methods to insert, delete or swap individual atoms in molecular backbones could accelerate drug discovery.
  1. Mark Peplow

    1. Mark Peplow is a science journalist in Penrith, UK.

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Cartoon showing a molecule in a chemical structure being replaced by researchers in a bulldozer

Illustration by David Parkins

Half a decade ago, chemist Mark Levin was a postdoc looking for a visionary project that could change his field. He found inspiration in a set of published wish lists from pharmaceutical-industry scientists who were looking for ways to transform medicinal chemistry1,2. Among their dreams, one concept stood out: the ability to precisely edit a molecule by deleting, adding or swapping single atoms in its core.

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Nature 618, 21-24 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01735-1

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