Chemistry in its elementChemistry

Chemistry in its element


Chemistry in its element

AlphaGenome & the RNA world hypothesis | The chemical breakdown podcast

Wed, 11 Feb 2026

Welcome to our latest podcast series, The chemical breakdown. Each week, we dive deeper into two stories we've covered here at Chemistry World, providing insight into the facts, why you should care, and what it means for the chemistry community. We also give you that week's headlines to keep you up to date with what's happening in the chemistry community. And finally, we'll end each episode with a brief section on what was happening this week in chemistry history. 

This week, we discuss the new deep learning model AlphaGenome and visit the very beginning of life on Earth with Mason Wakley and Neil Withers.

Google DeepMind has released a new deep learning model that can predict the effect of small changes to DNA sequences up to one million base pairs in length. What does this new tech mean for our understanding of the human genome?

And, how did life start on Earth, before the first cell came to be? We discuss the RNA world hypothesis and breakdown the chemistry it's built on.

You can find more episodes of The chemical breakdown on the Chemistry world podcast feed. We would love to hear your feedback on this new podcast, so if you have any questions or comments please get in touch.  

Batteries: The bedrock of the sustainable future

Tue, 01 Jun 2021

In this special podcast produced in partnership with Waters Corporation, find out how understanding the chemistry and materials that go into batteries marks the first step towards making them safer and increasing energy density, and unlocks new opportunities for reuse and recycling

Cinnamaldehyde: Chemistry in its element

Mon, 21 Dec 2020

How did a tree bark from Sri Lanka become one of the essential flavours of the festive season? We explore the history of cinnamon and the compound that gives it its distinctive taste and aroma  

Azidoazide azide: Chemistry in its element

Fri, 11 Dec 2020

A compound so explosively unstable that nobody has been able to measure how sensitive it is without it, well, exploding.

Ochre: Chemistry in its element

Fri, 04 Dec 2020

How one of mankind's oldest pigments helped shepherds secure their sheep and inspired one of the most popular songs of the twentieth century

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