Phillip Broadwith

Cambridge

Editor at Chemistry World

Business Editor for @chemistryworld, when I'm not dancing, cricketing or at the allotment. All opinions my own.

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Articles

Acceptable levels of (epi)genetic engineering

1 week ago | chemistryworld.com | Phillip Broadwith

Amplifying or silencing genes may be preferable to permanently changing genetic codeGenetic engineering is difficult. And the consequences can be unpredictable. It’s therefore unsurprising that commercial efforts have often met with significant public and political resistance.
Trump’s tariff stand-off

3 weeks ago | chemistryworld.com | Phillip Broadwith

Piling cost and complexity to stretched global supply chains will hit industries hard Source: © Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images The broad and variable trade tariffs introduced by US president Donald Trump are set to play havoc with complex chemical supply chains, with ripple effects proliferating across vast swathes of the manufacturing industry.
Decoding 23andMe’s downfall

3 weeks ago | chemistryworld.com | Phillip Broadwith

DNA testing firm 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US. Chief executive Anne Wojcicki has stepped down, after several failed bids to buy the company herself. The Chapter 11 process will allow the loss-making company to restructure and sell itself, with protection from its creditors. Perhaps the biggest question this raises is: what happens to the millions of people’s genetic data and samples that the company currently holds?
Getting into the weeds of the glyphosate debate

1 month ago | chemistryworld.com | Phillip Broadwith

Assessments of the risk posed by the controversial herbicide depend on how the evidence is weighed The herbicide glyphosate has polarised opinions for decades. And there are enough different ways to weigh the various evidence around its safety that make reaching any kind of unambiguous consensus hugely challenging.
Weight loss drug supply races

1 month ago | chemistryworld.com | Phillip Broadwith

With official shortages ended, but the first generics gearing up for launch, companies are looking for the next generation of drugs Source: © Iuliia Burmistrova/Getty Images Everyone in pharmaceuticals wants a piece of the action when it comes to weight-loss drugs.
Why companies are rushing to flatter Trump

1 month ago | chemistryworld.com | Phillip Broadwith

Pharma firms are among many pausing diversity programmes and promising domestic investment This article originally appeared in the Industry Brief newsletter. Subscribe for free for weekly insights in your inbox. Source: © Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg/Getty Images US President Donald Trump’s executive order halting funding for all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes and activities has caused havoc among the federally funded institutions it applies to.
Learning to listen

Dec 1, 2024 | chemistryworld.com | Phillip Broadwith

Many things have changed in the last two decades, but effective collaboration is more important than everOver the course of talking to the 20 chemists featured in our anniversary interview series (part 1 and part 2), a few themes emerged. One of the biggest is around the nature of collaboration, and how it has evolved over the last two decades. Digital communication tools have undoubtedly transformed the ways we interact with each other.
20 years. 20 chemists. 20 stories. Part 2

Dec 1, 2024 | chemistryworld.com | Phillip Broadwith

Chemists reflect on two decades of change These chemists all became members of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2004, when Chemistry World was first launched. To mark our 20th anniversary, Phillip Broadwith asked them to look back at the last two decades of their careers in chemistry. The first 10 interviews were published earlier this year. Amy Jordon Source: © Lucinda Rogers @ Heart Agency Amy Jordon is a specialist chemistry teacher at an international school in the Bahamas.
Deadly explosion at US food colouring plant

Nov 20, 2024 | chemistryworld.com | Phillip Broadwith

A large explosion has killed two workers and injured 11 more at US a food ingredients plant operated by Swiss firm Givaudan on 12 November. The Givaudan Sense Colour plant in Louisville produces natural food colourings. Source: © AP Photo/Dylan Lovan Officials from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are investigating the incident, and were joined by investigators from the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).
Beating the heat problem

Aug 20, 2024 | chemistryworld.com | Phillip Broadwith

Electrifying process heat is a cost problem, not a technical oneSeveral segments of the chemicals industry are often described as being particularly difficult to decarbonise – often owing to their high demand for energy, particularly heat. This heat is predominantly supplied by burning fossil fuels, but technology already on the market could theoretically electrify around two thirds of industrial heat demand.