Topics Covered

• The origins of penicillin and the research behind antibiotic development.
• The way in which pencillins kill bacteria.
• Introduction to the molecular structure of the penicillins and how their structure underpins their antibacterial properties.
• The ways in which some bacteria types are able to become resistant to antibiotics.
• The clinical research of a consultant in infectious and travel medicine.
• The challenges behind educating people in the proper use of antibiotics.
• The ways in which chemists are making contributions to overcoming the problem of bacterial resistance.
• The ethical issues associated with powerful medicines, and the appropriate uses of them.
• Assignment: prepare interview questions to demonstrate an understanding of the ethical issues behind a scientific topic.
• The uses of chemistry in addressing the challenges of feeding a growing population.
• The role of chemical crop protection agents and the development of agrochemicals.
• The way agrochemical products are discovered and designed.
• The discovery of the World’s most widely used fungicidal agent, Azoxystrobin.
• The multidisciplinary nature of the discovery of new biologically active molecules.
• The uses of natural crops and their genetically-modified alternatives.
• Sustainable options for feeding a rapidly growing population.
• Alternative methods of agriculture that complement the use of chemical crop protection agents.
• Assignment: a peer reviewed task to write a blog post on a scientific topic.