Growing up in Ghana, I wanted to be a doctor like my father. In the early 1980s, a disease called river blindness, caused by a parasitic parasite and transmitted by black flies, became a major problem.simulation spp.) bites. His father, who was then working as a district health officer in the Upper Region of Ghana, worked with the World Health Organization to distribute the drug ivermectin, derived from a natural substance called avermectin, to the people of Ghana for free.
When I heard about this natural product derivative (which can treat hundreds of thousands of people, far more than individual doctors), I was sold. I thought becoming a chemist and developing medicines derived from natural products was a way to make an impact.
Humans have used many other natural substances as medicines. Penicillin and paclitaxel are good examples. Often these products are only available in small amounts from nature. Less than 10 grams of paclitaxel can be extracted from one kilogram of the bark of the slow-growing Pacific yew tree (Yew) — so chemists figured out how to make it using starting materials produced from petrochemicals.
In my lab at the University of California, Berkeley, my team and I are originally interested in finding ways to more efficiently manufacture naturally derived medicines. We are also exploring more environmentally friendly manufacturing methods, such as using agricultural by-products as starting materials.
Some of the catalysts we use are not stable in oxygen or water, so we keep them in a nitrogen glovebox. Use by pushing your hand inside the glove.
The glove box looks like it's ready to hug you. In this photo, he looked great reaching out and shaking hands to serve his lab of about 30 people.
I love gloveboxes, but not everyone has access to one. We want to adapt our reactions to working outdoors and make it work for everyone.
