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.  

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

Also known as 'milk of amnesia', propofol helps to prevent perception of pain in surgery – just don't forget its dangerous side

Florence Schechter discovers how a seemingly healthy grapefruit-based breakfast could disrupt your daily drugs

Kat Arney gets to the bottom of the story of phenolphthalein – a chemical with two very different uses. If you've measured pH in a classroom or had some trouble in the bathroom, you may have met this compound before. 

A biologically active compound from the biblical balm of Gilead, said to 'heal the sin-sick soul'

Gege Li on the compound formerly known by the no-nonsense name 'very fast death factor'

Florence Schechter introduces an ancient, but effective, treatment for painful attacks of gout

What links blue jeans to ancient British warriors? Mike Freemantle discovers the blue dye with a colourful history

The latest in an alarming trend of novel psychoactive substances being mis-sold at festivals as traditional street drugs, putting users at risk

As hayfever season comes to a close, Katrina Krämer examines antihistamines. From calming down a hyperactive immune system to increasing cognitive abilities, these small molecules have a big impact.

Kat Arney finds out about the 'toxic caterpillar' chemical that will make your skin crawl

Michael Freemantle introduces a tear gas used by the British army in the first world war, picked, in part, because of our access to seaweed

Hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir made waves when first launched – quicker to work and with fewer side effects than existing drugs, but it came with a hefty price tag

Brian Clegg on the almond flavour compound that gives your taste buds a treat and may help rescue survivors from a disaster

How the 'world's most wonderful mineral' became one of the world's biggest health hazards

Kat Arney investigates the chemicals responsible for giving bruises their hue and colouring your poo

Katrina Krämer examines the overdose antidote that has saved tens of thousands of lives

A 1960s breakthrough in pain relief that now fuels the opioid crisis

How a waxy mixture from a sheep's fleece helped create a global fashion brand

Ben Valsler with the story of Charlotte Figi, Dravet syndrome and the cannabis compound controlling her condition.

Brian Clegg on a compound that keeps us well fed and looking radiant

Katrina Krämer asks if an essential blood-thinning medicine ended Joseph Stalin's 30-year rule over the Soviet Union

Discover bat-borne-bombs and a classic chemistry textbook, as Mike Freemantle examines the history of kerosene

Meera Senthilingam makes a welcome return to the podcast with a drug that gives hope to the many sufferers of drug-resistant TB – still one of the world's biggest killers

One mineral form may look like gold, but Brian Clegg isn't fooled by the value of iron sulfides

From tacky Hallowe'en decorations to the stuff of an arachnophobe's nightmares, spiders don't have the greatest reputation. But, as Kat Arney is here to prove, there's fascinating chemistry at work in their webs.

Jamie Durrani on the compound that gives pepper its characteristic kick

Brian Clegg with the winemaking byproduct that may be lurking in your larder

Kat Arney discovers the strange things that happen when organic compounds go round the twist

A component of 'trench atmosphere' and 'the most powerful antiseptic known', Mike Freemantle explores calcium hydroxide and the birth of a chemical dynasty 

Swipe, tap, pinch, poke and prod – Neil Withers gets hands on with touchscreen material indium tin oxide, ITO

Science imitates art imitating science, as sitcom The big bang theory inspires the creation of a new compound

Concluding our pair of podcasts on a recent cycling scandal, Ben Valsler looks at the steroid triamcinolone

Acetylcysteine is a versatile drug, helping manage lung conditions and treat paracetamol overdose. But, as Ben Valsler discovers, it has found itself at the centre of a cycling controversy

This summer's extreme weather prompts Katrina Krämer to investigate the history of sunblock and the ingredient blamed by some for bleaching coral reefs

Jamie Durrani presents a pair of plant-based poisons

Kat Arney wraps herself around the tree sap that saved transatlantic telecommunications

A giant marine toxin with a total synthesis story to tell

Colourful crustaceans and the story of a ubiquitous biological pigment

Kat Arney investigates the biological pigment that links sun tanning, squid ink and browning bananas

We speak to Yuri Oganessian about the element that bears his name

Three Tennessee institutions contributed to the discovery of element 117, now fittingly named tennessine

Meet the Mayor of Livermore, California, and discover how his city has been immortalised on the periodic table

The US-Russian collaborative superheavy element 'factory' strikes again, but only 100 atoms of element 115 have ever been observed

How 'hot fusion' research saw an end to cold war tensions

From Lavoisier's experiments with plaster of paris to the the 'Sistine Chapel of crystals' in Mexico, Mike Freemantle explores the history of gypsum

We catch up with the changes in the periodic table. This time, Kit Chapman discovers the element that realised a Japanese national dream

Brian Clegg illuminates a glow-in-the-dark compound that defies naming conventions

Mike Freemantle brings us a sparkling mineral and a tale of derring-do on the high seas