Author Archives: ying cai

The Politics of Renaming

Named discoveries are everywhere in chemistry. From Planck’s constant to Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions, these names represent the legacy of the scientists who contributed greatly to our study. However, great scientists are not always great people.

A photo of Nobel Prize-winning physicist and known eugenics advocate William Schockley. The naming of the “Schockley-Queisser limit” after him is controversial. Photo by Chuck Painter / Stanford News Service

For example, William Shockley was a physicist whose work on semiconductors earned him a third of a Nobel Prize in 1956. He had several discoveries named after him, including the Shockley-Queisser Limit which is a theoretical limit commonly discussed in solar cell research. He was also a known racist and eugenics advocate. Among other things, he proposed that women with low IQs should be paid to be sterilized. Thus, it is somewhat unsurprising that Ehrler et al. proposed that the Schockley-Queisser Limit be renamed as to not celebrate such a character. The authors also called into question the naming of the Haber process and the unit of Debye based on transgressions of the scientists they are named after. This discussion caused much controversy.

In her essay “The Peril of Politicizing Science”, chemist Anna Krylov warns against the idea of renaming discoveries named after problematic figures. She argues that “cancel culture” is a slippery slope towards censorship and ideologically controlled science, which hinders scientific progress in the long run. Krylov also writes that the act of renaming erases the complexities of the intersection between science and ethics, and that teaching and studying the history of science would be more productive and instructive for future scientists.

In an essay titled “Science Is Political, and We Must Deal with It”, science writer Philip Ball responds to Krylov’s protests. Ball argues that removing the names do not stop textbooks from discussing the ethics of science and the people who made the important discoveries. He also writes that naming discoveries after people perpetuates the idea that science is propelled by individual genius and not a long series of collaborative efforts.

Both sides of the argument agree that there is a lot of nuances in these circumstances, but fail to agree on one important idea: Ehrler et al. and Ball believe that celebrating people with moral failings suggests that their behaviour is acceptable as long as the science they produce is of high quality; Krylov believes that we should evaluate a scientist’s contribution solely on the merit of the science and not on their individual beliefs.

There is no clear way to answer whether we should rename these familiar terms such as the Haber process or the Schockley-Queisser limit, and I hope productive discourse within the scientific community will lead to a satisfying solution.

~ Ying Cai

Bhopal Gas Tragedy: The Deadliest Chemical Incident

On February 3^rd, a derailed train in East Palestine, Ohio released 5 toxic chemicals into the area. The local authorities then burned some of the chemicals to avoid an explosion. Byproducts of this burning included dioxins, which are highly toxic compounds that persist in the environment. Local residents reported burning sensations in their throats and noses as a result of airborne chemicals. Residents are also worried how the water supply and air quality will be impacted in the long term.

While we cannot yet determine the long term effects on public health or the environment resulting from this chemical spill, this incident does remind chemists that our work can escape the controls of the laboratory or factory and cause devastation to the public. The scale and gravity of the impacts of a chemical incident are best demonstrated by the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, considered the world’s worst industrial disaster to date.

Exterior of the pesticide factory which caused the Bhopal gas tragedy. Image source: Bhopal Medical Appeal

On the night of December 2^nd, 1984, 30-40 tonnes of the toxic gas methyl isocyanate (MIC) were released by a pesticide manufacturing facility over the city of Bhopal. In the immediate aftermath, over two thousand people died and over five-hundred thousand were injured. As Figure 1 shows, the immediate death toll of the Bhopal incident far exceeds that of the Beirut explosion of 2020 and the Chernobyl disaster, making it the deadliest chemical disaster ever. Those who survived in Bhopal showed higher rates of chronic illnesses, such as pulmonary fibrosis and bronchial asthma, and other health issues. To this day, the pollution resulting from the incident persists in the area and we observe high rates of congenital physical and intellectual defects in children born even decades after the disaster.

Figure 1. Shows the immediate death toll of the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Beirut explosion, and the Chernobyl disaster. Figure source: Ying Cai

The heartbreaking reality is that this incident could have been prevented. The manufacturing plant had many safety procedures and devices, but they were all malfunctioning, not used, or lacking supplies at the time of incident. For example, the refrigeration system to cool the MIC and the alarm for high temperatures in the MIC tank were removed months earlier and never replaced; the flare tower meant to burn the MIC as it escaped was also missing parts and therefore not functional. If the safety procedures were taken seriously by management of the plant, many lives would have been saved.

Disasters such as the Bhopal gas tragedy should be taught to chemists as a grim reminder of the potential consequences of our actions and the importance of chemical safety. We should take safety seriously even when running small scale or familiar reactions to build good habits. As well, these disasters should motivate the chemistry community to work towards green chemistry, where hopefully highly toxic reagents will not be needed in industrial quantities anymore.

~ Ying Cai

Non-Hormonal Birth Control Pills for Males May Be Within Reach

Recently, scientists at the University of Minnesota found two promising compounds that may become the first non-hormonal contraceptive drugs for males. Testing on mice found that these compounds reduce sperm count effectively and present no side effects.

There are currently no non-hormonal birth control pills on the market for females or males, despite these pills likely having fewer harmful side effects than the hormonal birth control methods available for females.

And since males continuously generate sperm while females are born with all potentially fertile eggs, it is easier for scientists to find approaches that reversibly stops sperm production in males rather than risk “spoiling” the non-renewable pool of eggs in females.

Picture depicting the meeting of sperm and egg, which leads to fertilization and pregnancy. Image Credit: https://flic.kr/p/MCcsUf

The first potential drug discovered is a chemical named YCT529, reported by Dr. Gunda Georg’s group in spring 2022. This molecule was designed to inhibit the function of the protein retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR-α). Georg’s scientists found that a lack of RAR-α protein in male mice leads to sterilization, but no additional side effects. When YCT529 was orally administered to the mice for 4 weeks, their sperm count reduced drastically, and the drug was 99% effective in preventing pregnancy.

Chemical structure of non-hormonal male contraceptive YCT529. Image Credit: Ying Cai

The same group of scientists reported the second drug named EF-4-177 in early 2023. The target of this molecule is an enzyme named cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) which helps in sperm cell production. The scientists reported an over 45% decrease in sperm count of the mice after 28 days of treatment with EF-4-177.

Currently, a startup named YourChoice Therapeutics based in Berkeley, California is working to market YCT529 to humans soon. According to their website, the company has tested on dogs and primates with positive results. Their graphics show that after two weeks of treatment with YCT529, sperm levels in dogs drop to zero and primates do not produce enough sperm to be fertile.

If a side effect-free non-hormonal birth control pill for males is introduced to the public, it would expand contraceptive options for those with testicles beyond condoms and vasectomy. As well, it would make it easier for the responsibility of pregnancy prevention to be shared between partners in a relationship.

Hopefully, more research to come will soon make non-hormonal birth control pills for males a reality.

~ Ying Cai

Non-Hormonal Birth Control for Males May be Within Reach

Picture depicting the meeting of sperm and egg, which leads to fertilization and pregnancy. Image Credit: deccanchronicle.com

Recently, scientists at the University of Minnesota have found two promising compounds that may become the first non-hormonal contraceptive drugs for males. Testing on mice found that these compounds are effective at reducing sperm count and present no side effects.

The first of these potential drugs is a chemical named YCT529, reported by Dr. Gunda Georg’s group in spring 2022. This molecule was designed to inhibit the function of the protein retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR-α). Georg’s scientists found that a lack of RAR-α protein in male mice leads to sterilization, but no additional side effects. When YCT529 was orally administered to the mice for 4 weeks, their sperm count was drastically reduced, and the drug was 99% effective in pregnancy prevention.

Line structure of non-hormonal male contraceptive YCT529

Chemical structure of non-hormonal male contraceptive YCT529. Image Credit: Md Abdullah Al Noman

The second drug was reported by the same group of scientists in early 2023 and is named EF-4-177. The target of this molecule is an enzyme named cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) which is involved in sperm cell production. The scientists reported an over 45% decrease in sperm count of the mice after 28 days of treatment with EF-4-177.

Currently, a startup named YourChoice Therapeutics based in Berkeley, California is working to market YCT529 to humans soon. According to their website, the company has done testing on dogs and primates with positive results. Their graphics show that after two weeks of treatment with YCT529, sperm levels in dogs drop to zero and primates do not produce enough sperm to be fertile.

Hopefully, more research to come will soon make non-hormonal birth control pills for males a reality.

~ Ying Cai