News & Comment

Bruce Gibb wonders whether our faith in chemistry — and what it can teach us about the Universe beyond our Earthly bounds — will have a role to play in the search for alien life.

Michelle Francl wonders if the harem effect in crystallography is overrated.

A collection of articles in this issue focuses on attempts to mimic aspects of natural-product biosynthesis for the identification of new drugs.

Jeffrey Bode from ETH Zürich talks with Nature Chemistry about his group's work on synthetic fermentation, and how he hopes it could bring the power of chemical synthesis into the hands of citizen scientists.

From rubies to Rolls-Royce, Anders Lennartson explores the colourful history of chromium and its coordination compounds.

Adam Nelson and Stuart Warriner, from the University of Leeds, talk with Nature Chemistry about their work to develop viable synthetic strategies for preparing new chemical structures in parallel with the identification of desirable biological activity.

Flat is the question.

Benjamin King and Dieter Schlüter, the corresponding authors of two Articles in this issue that describe single-crystal characterization of two-dimensional polymers, talk to Nature Chemistry about the background, challenges and prospects of their work.

Thomas Albrecht-Schmitt explains the origin of element 98's striking green glow, and why the future for californium chemistry is just as bright.