Ada McVean
Digital content assistant, Chemistry World
I started at Chemistry World in February 2023 after moving to the UK in September 2022, just one month after finishing my Masters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, at McGill University. My degrees are in bio-organic chemistry and gender and social justice studies. My thesis focused on oligonucleotide chemistry, specifically characterizing small nucleic acid-based inhibitors Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 using click chemistry.
I've been a science writer since 2016 and have worked with the McGill Office for Science and Society, Skeptical Inquirer, SciMoms, Atlas Obscura and now Chemistry World.
My education is in chemistry, but I've never met a type of science I didn't want to know more about. I am particularly interested in veterinary medicine, mechanochemistry and pharmacology, as well as misinformation and myth-busting.
NewsThe fate of Nobel prize medals
Over the years, Nobel prize medals have been stolen, dissolved and auctioned off. We trace what happened to them and the stories they can tell us
ResearchYellow food dye could give doctors a new way to look beneath the skin
Tartrazine can safely and reversibly turn the skin of mice transparent
ResearchDiscovery of ‘NO burst’ could help save world’s favourite banana from deadly fungus
Fungus found to flood host with nitric oxide to beat plants’ immune system
ResearchStonehenge Altar stone likely came from Scotland, not Wales
Mineral analysis matches sandstones from over 750km away
OpinionIjeoma Uchegbu: ‘My approach is always to be kind’
The innovative nanoscientist on the power of kindness and how she scrubbed eugenicists from campus buildings
ResearchPioneering preservative removal from ancient Greek ship allows accurate dating
Extraction of polyethylene glycol from ship’s wood enables radiocarbon recalibration
NewsColourant chemistry identifies ancient Greek workshop for Tyrian purple
Dye favoured by royalty was produced at site 3600 years ago
ResearchRodents’ striking orange teeth not down to iron-rich enamel as thought
Metal provides strength but the colour is the result of something else
ResearchStatic on steroids lets meat and fruit stick to metal at flick of switch
Electroadhesion could find biomedical and robotic applications
ResearchEnzyme engineering makes blue denim greener
Environmentally friendlier alternative to indigo dye can now be made at a competitive price
ResearchBlueberries’ blue is just skin deep, depending on structure not pigments
Non-spherical nanostructures explain the fruit’s colour
ResearchE. coli rewired to shift carbon flow towards C4 chemicals
Bioengineering strategy creates evolutionary advantage linking cell growth with product formation
ResearchD-trypsin synthesis enables sequencing of mirror-image proteins
Reversing the chirality of a protein-digesting enzyme could aid the development of mirror-image therapeutics
ResearchPolar bear-inspired material could be the future of insulating textiles
Encapsulated aerogel fibre can be stretched, dyed and washed without signs of degradation
Research‘Dolomite problem’ that has puzzled scientists for centuries may have finally been solved
Solution helps to explain the mystery of why common mineral won’t crystallise in the lab
ResearchInsulin medicines more resilient to temperature than previously thought
Review suggests more lenient storage guidelines could make diabetes treatments more accessible
ResearchAerophobic electrodes prevent bubble coalescence and boost mass transport
Hydrogel electrode coating improves the efficiency of gas evolution reactions
ResearchElemental analysis sheds light on Pompeii victims’ final moments
New evidence suggests asphyxiation caused the death of seven people in new study
ResearchMapping antibiotic’s binding of its target points to way to give drugs the killer edge
Technique that creates a comprehensive catalogue of mutations in antibiotic’s target reveals how drugs might be improved