Turning CO2 into drugs
Posted by Charles II on December 12, 2010
(Propiolic acid from Wikimedia)
Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the world’s first bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute, have reported another breakthrough in their quest to develop green technologies for pharmaceuticals synthesis. They have devised a new environmentally friendly technique to transform carbon dioxide, an abundant and renewable carbon source, into highly functionalized propiolic acids, which are basic building blocks for the synthesis of a wide range of pharmaceuticals such as cholesterol-reducing drugs and peptidomimetic and other small molecule inhibitors that may be used, for example, to kill cancer cells.
Basically, acetylene + CO2 —> propiolic acid in the presence of a catalyst.
So, exactly why is this advance coming out of… Singapore?
3 Responses to “Turning CO2 into drugs”
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Mercury Rising 鳯女 
Phoenix Woman said
Wonder if it might be because Singapore is much like the Netherlands in that much of its land mass is actually reclaimed land that is near if not below sea level (and which is therefore vulnerable to sea levels rising as a result of human-induced climate change)?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Singapore
Regardless of the reason, I’m glad someone’s doing this. I’ve always believed that when someone found a way to turn a profit off of removing excess CO2 from the atmosphere, that would be what triggered an effective rollback of AGW.
Phoenix Woman said
Maybe now the Koch brothers will lay off the antiscience crap? http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/12/explaining_global_climate_chan.php
Charles II said
Are you kidding? Using comics simply proves that the climate change hoaxers are not serious. [/deranged]