DED UN 18 O 98 F http://www.nesacs.org N Y O T R E I T H C E N O A E S S S L T A E A C R C I N S M S E E H C C TI N April 2011 Vol. LXXXIX, No. 8 O CA N • AMERI Monthly Meeting Esselen Award Meeting at Harvard Award Address by Dr. Arthur J. Nozik Summer Scholar Report By Jiazuo (Henry) Feng and Mark W. Grinstaff Department of Biochemical Engineering and Chemistry, Boston University A Jack Szostak Interview By Mindy Levine February Meeting Report By Michael Filosa April Historical Events in Chemistry by Leopold May, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064 April 2, 1953 that Charles Martin Hall discovered April 15, 1961 Francis H. C. Crick and James D. the same process for isolating alu- Fifty years ago, on this date, Carol Watson mailed a 900-word article minum. It is called the Hall-Heroult W. Greider was born. She shared on the structure of deoxyribonucleic process. He also invented the elec- the Nobel Prize in Physiology or acid (DNA) to Nature on this date. tric arc furnace for steel in 1900, Medicine in 2009 with Elizabeth H. April 5, 1956 which replaced giant smelters for Blackburn and Jack W. Szostak for Marshall Gates & G. Tschudi the production of a variety of steels. the discovery of how chromosomes announced the synthesis of morphine He was born on this date. are protected by telomeres and the on this date. April 14, 1927 enzyme telomerase. April 6, 1863 Alan MacDiarmid, who was born on April 16, 1728 James Walker, a researcher on this date, is a researcher on the syn- Joseph Black developed the concept hydrolysis, ionization constants, and thesis of conductive polymers. In of latent heat and laid the foundation amphoteric electrolytes with organic 2000 he shared the Nobel Prize in for modern quantitative analysis. He compounds, was born on this date. Chemistry with Alan J. Heeger and was born on this date. Hideki Shirakawa for the discovery April 18, 1838 April 8, 1911 and development of conductive One hundred and twenty-five years One hundred years ago on this date, polymers. Melvin Calvin was born. He ago, in 1886, Lecoq de Boisbaudran received the Nobel Prize in Chem- April 15, 1861 found dysprosium in didymium that istry in 1961 for his research in pho- One hundred and fifty years ago on Per Teodor Cleve had concluded in tosynthesis. this date, Ernest Solvay received his 1874 had two elements, later named first patent, entitled “Industrial Pro- neodymium and praseodymium. He April 10, 1863 duction of Sodium Carbonate by also discovered gallium (Ga, 31) in One hundred and twenty-five years Means of Marine Salt, Ammonia, & 1875, and samarium (Sm, 62) in ago in 1886, Paul Louis Toussaint Carbon Dioxide. 1880, using spectroscopic methods Héroult discovered the electrolytic devised by Robert Bunsen and Gus- aluminum process in the same year Continued on page 13 2 The Nucleus April 2011 The Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society, Inc. Contents Office: Anna Singer, 12 Corcoran Road, Burlington, MA 01803 (Voice or FAX) 781-272-1966. April Historical Events in Chemistry________________________2 e-mail: secretary(at)nesacs.org NESACS Homepage: By Leopold May, Catholic University of America http://www.NESACS.org Officers 2011 A Jack Szostak Interview ________________________________4 Chair: By Mindy Levine Patrick M. Gordon 1 Brae Circle Woburn, MA 01801 Monthly Meeting _______________________________________5 patrick.gordon(at)simmons.edu Esselen Award Meeing at the Harvard Faculty Club, Chair-Elect Ruth Tanner Award Address by Dr. Arthur J. Nozik Olney Hall 415B University Avenue Announcements ______________________________________6,7 University of Mass Lowell Ruth_Tanner(at)uml.edu IYC Quarter 2 Science Café at the Hyannis Golf Club, 978-934-3662 NSYCC Student Research Conference at Northeastern Immediate Past Chair: John McKew John.McKew(at)gmail.com A Greener Nucleus _____________________________________6 Secretary: Michael Singer NESACS Candidates for 2011 Election _____________________7 Sigma-Aldrich 3 Strathmore Rd, Natick, MA 01360 774-290-1391, michael.singer(at)sial.com Summer Scholar Report _________________________________8 Treasurer: Synthesis and Characterization of Functional Polymeric Nanoparticles, James Piper 19 Mill Rd, Harvard, MA 01451 By Jiazuo (Henry) Feng and Mark W. Grinstaff, Departments of Biomedical 978-456-3155, piper28(at)attglobal.net Engineering and Chemistry, Boston University Auditor: Anthony Rosner February Meeting Report _______________________________11 Archivist Tim Frigo By Michael Filosa, Photo by Morton Z. Hoffman Trustees: Peter C. Meltzer, Esther A. H. Hopkins, Cover: April Speaker and Esselen Award Winner, Dr. Arthur J. Nozik, Senior Michael E. Strem Research Fellow, National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Professor Directors-at-Large David Harris, Stephen Lantos, James Phillips, Adjunct, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Ralph Scannell, Myron Simon, Alfred Viola Boulder. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Nozik) Councilors Alternate Councilors Term Ends 12/31/2011 Deadlines: Summer 2011 Issue: June 23, 2011 Doris I. Lewis C. Jaworek-Lopes Mary Burgess Patrick M. Gordon September 2011 Issue: July 17, 2011 Morton Z. Hoffman Lawrence Scott Michael P. Filosa Donald Rickter Kathi Brown Liming Shao Term Ends 12/31/2012 Amy E. Tapper Michaeline F. Chen Catherine E. Costello Jerry P. Jasinski Patricia A. Mabrouk Gary R. Weisman The Nucleus is published monthly, except June and August, by the Northeastern Section of the American Dorothy J. Phillips Marietta Schwartz Chemical Society, Inc. Forms close for advertising on the 1st of the month of the preceding issue. Text Ruth Tanner Norton P. Peet must be received by the editor six weeks before the date of issue. Term Ends 12/31/2013 Editor: Michael P. Filosa, Ph.D., ZINK Imaging, Inc., 16 Crosby Drive, Building 4G, Thomas R. Gilbert Leland L. Johnson, Jr. Bedford, MA 01730 Email: Michael.filosa(at)zink.com; Tel: 508-843-9070 Michael Singer Alfred Viola Robert Lichter Sophia R. Su Associate Editors: Myron S. Simon, 20 Somerset Rd., W. Newton, MA 02465, Tel: 617-332-5273, Mary Shultz Kenneth C. 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Walworth, Mindy Levine Coun cilor of the American Chemical Soci- ety residing within the section area is an ex Webmaster: Roy Hagen officio member of the Board of Directors. Copyright 2011, Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society, Inc. The Nucleus April 2011 3 A Jack Szostak Interview Corporate Patrons $2000 - or more By Mindy Levine AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals When Jack Szostak was on vacation In addition, the initial telomerase stud- Eisai Pharmaceuticals with his family in Iceland in 2006, he ies performed by these researchers EMD Serono received a call from Dr. Joseph Gold- have sparked discoveries that telom- Genzyme Corp. stein, Chairman of the Lasker Awards erase has a role in cancer and age- Novartis Jury. The prestigious Lasker Prizes are related degeneration. Johnson Matthey awarded annually in two categories: Once the 2006 Lasker Prize was Pfizer Inc. Basic Medical Research and Clinical conferred, the announcement that the Schering Corp. Medical Research. Dr. Szostak same three researchers won the 2009 Strem Chemicals, Inc. assumed that Dr. Goldstein was calling Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Vertex Pharmaceuticals him to write a recommendation for was not a complete surprise to Szostak. $1000-$1999 someone who was being considered Nonetheless, one of the interesting Boehringer Ingelheim for a Lasker Prize, and “I was on vaca- aspects of the Nobel Prize was that it GlaxoSmithKline tion, so I didn’t want to deal with it,” was conferred for work that Szostak Irix Pharmaceuticals said Dr. Szostak. performed 20 years ago, for research Lyophilization Services of NE As Dr. Szostak later found out, he that has little relationship to his current Sundia Meditech had been awarded the 2006 Lasker research interests. “It was extremely Yes Bank Prize in Basic Medical Research, nice to have that work recognized,” together with Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn Szostak said, “but I had to go read all $300-$999 and Dr. Carol Greider. The three scien- of those papers again.” Cambridge Major Labs tists were awarded this prize, “for the Dr. Szostak currently runs a Girindus prediction and discovery of telom- research group at Massachusetts Gen- Merrimack Consultants erase, a remarkable RNA-containing eral Hospital comprising 10 graduate Organix enzyme that…maintains the integrity students and post-doctoral researchers PCI Synthesis of the genome,” according to the text who are studying questions that relate Sigma Aldrich of the Lasker Prize. The discovery of to the origin of life. Specifically, the Waters Corp. telomerase sheds important light on Szostak lab is researching the design Wilmington PharmaTech how chromosome ends are maintained. and synthesis of an artificial “proto- cell,” that will be capable both of dividing into “daughter vesicles” and of replicating its genetic material. Researchers in the lab have already developed a reasonably good vesicle replication system. Szostak hopes that in the next 5-10 years they will develop a good nucleic acid replication system and a function- ing “artificial cell.” “I think that is a feasible goal in the time I have left,” Szostak said.