All articles by Derek Lowe – Page 7

  • CW1114_In-the-Pipeline_Fig1_630m
    Opinion

    Chemical space is big. Really big

    2014-10-28T00:00:00Z

    You think it’s a long way to the back of your screening libraries? That’s peanuts to chemical space, says Derek Lowe

  • Presentation of publication garbage truck
    Opinion

    Garbage in, garbage out

    2014-09-29T00:00:00Z

    The rise of low-quality and predatory open access journals and conferences worries Derek Lowe

  • Dusty reagent bottles
    Opinion

    Death of a reagent

    2014-08-22T00:00:00Z

    Fashion and progress combine to mean some reactions and reagents persist, while others fall by the wayside, says Derek Lowe

  • Molecular structure in crystal ball
    Opinion

    The crystal ball that can tell lies

    2014-07-29T00:00:00Z

    X-ray structures are not necessarily definitive, says Derek Lowe, especially when it comes to biomolecules

  • CW0714_Pipeline_630m
    Opinion

    Too big to innovate?

    2014-06-25T00:00:00Z

    How strong is the correlation between company size and research productivity, asks Derek Lowe

  • 0614CW_PIPELINE_300m
    Opinion

    Messy megamergers

    2014-05-29T00:00:00Z

    Big company buyouts are more about immediate gains and rarely consider the impact on research, says Derek Lowe

  • PIPELINE_300M
    Opinion

    Engineering serendipity

    2014-04-25T00:00:00Z

    It takes more than random stumbling to find new reactions, says Derek Lowe

  • Man in respirator with smoking flask
    Opinion

    Known unknowns

    2014-03-27T00:00:00Z

    New molecules with unpredictable biological activity deserve sensible amounts of respect, says Derek Lowe

  • Mystery box concept image
    Opinion

    Tools of the trade

    2014-02-24T00:00:00Z

    Derek Lowe wonders what the most life-changing instrument for organic chemists is, and what might be missing from the toolbox

  • devilish manager at computer
    Opinion

    Beelzebub Pharma Ltd

    2014-01-31T00:00:00Z

    Derek Lowe thinks the Devil’s R&D management schemes might be scarily familiar

  • Hammer and nails
    Opinion

    Is there a drug for that?

    2014-01-07T00:00:00Z

    Derek Lowe ponders whether anything is truly ‘undruggable’ if we look in the right places

  • cartoon of workers pushing a boulder up a hill with a manager on the boulder
    Opinion

    Rolling boulders uphill

    2013-11-27T00:00:00Z

    Is Derek Lowe troubled by his failure to develop a compound that has made it to the pharmacy shelf?

  • 1113CW-In-the-pipeline_630m
    Opinion

    Natural born chemists

    2013-10-31T00:00:00Z

    Redesigning nature’s catalysts is tantalising but tricky, says Derek Lowe

  • Man on canyon edge
    Opinion

    What's the use?

    2013-09-25T00:00:00Z

    Not every reaction can be run in a bucket, says Derek Lowe, but there are limits to what should be classed as ‘useful’

  • Reading man with letters overflowing his head
    Opinion

    The never-ending story

    2013-09-02T00:00:00Z

    Keeping up with the literature is impossible, says Derek Lowe.

  • Sodium chloride plates for infrared spectrosopy
    Opinion

    Knowledge lost or time gained?

    2013-07-30T00:00:00Z

    Derek Lowe wonders whether we should mourn the decline of classic analytical techniques or embrace technological advances

  • 0613CW-IN-THE-PIPELINE_300
    Opinion

    Lab’s labourers lost?

    2013-07-02T00:00:00Z

    How long should scientists stay at the bench, asks Derek Lowe. How long is a piece of string?

  • Dartboard with syringes and doctors
    Opinion

    Target acquired

    2013-07-02T00:00:00Z

    Knowing a drug’s exact biochemistry has never been a prerequisite for approval, says Derek Lowe, and nor should it be

  • Glassblower at work
    Opinion

    Bespoke or bodged

    2013-04-30T00:00:00Z

    A can-do attitude and some lateral thinking can save time and money when it comes to exotic apparatus, says Derek Lowe

  • Opinion

    From lab to leader

    2013-04-02T00:00:00Z

    Derek Lowe asks (with some trepidation): do drug companies need scientists at the top?