Spotlight: American Chemical Society annual meeting showcases innovation in chemical science

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by Xinhua writer Tan Jingjing

SAN DIEGO, the United States, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The 2019 national meeting and exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), one of the largest scientific conferences of the year held this week in San Diego, California, has demonstrated new discoveries and innovation in chemical science.

The conference, running from Sunday through Thursday, focused on the theme of "Chemistry and Water."

Elizabeth Zubritsky, manager of society and media relations of the ACS, told Xinhua more than 12,000 attendees from 74 countries joined the conference. More than 9,500 presentations are scheduled to be delivered during the meeting.

The presentations address areas of agriculture and water scarcity, biology and chemistry of waterborne diseases, water, health and environmental justice in marginalized communities, plastics in aquatic environments, water sustainability through nanotechnology, new materials and approaches to water purification and desalination, stormwater treatment and green infrastructure, according to the ACS.

A total of 17 press briefings are scheduled on Monday and Tuesday on new discoveries in food and nutrition, medicine, health, energy, environment and other fields where chemistry plays a central role.

Nobel Prize winner Frances Arnold of the California Institute of Technology and Thomas Markland, associate professor of chemistry at Stanford University, delivered keynote speeches at the conference.

"The conference offers a good opportunity for us to disseminate our new work, share research progress with other professionals, and jointly explore new technologies in chemical science," Paula Hammond, chair professor of Engineering and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), told Xinhua.

Hammond and her team have developed a fast-acting skin patch that efficiently delivers medication to attack melanoma cells.

"Our patch has a unique chemical coating and mode of action that allows it to be applied and removed from the skin in just a minute while still delivering a therapeutic dose of drugs," said Yanpu He, a PhD student at MIT who helped develop the device.

The new technology, tested in mice and human skin samples, is an advance toward developing a vaccine to treat melanoma and has widespread applications for other vaccines, He told Xinhua.

Many chemical companies from worldwide showcased their latest chemical products and equipment at the exposition held at the San Diego Convention Center.

Juan Aguilar, business development director of AmBeed, a company which offers a robust catalog of chemical products including building blocks and advanced intermediates, told Xinhua it is the second time the company participated in the ACS meeting since its founding 10 months ago.

The company expected to seek business links with more partners through the exposition, he said.

Some overseas universities also joined the exposition with an aim to recruit researchers and postdocs.

Li Kun, director of the Imaging and Characterization Core Lab at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology of Saudi Arabia, told Xinhua the university considered the exposition a platform to attract talent in such areas as electron microscopy, X-ray structural analysis and Raman spectroscopy.

The ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is a not-for-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. It is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Enditem

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