Chemistry In Its Element

Raychelle Burks explains how the scent of cedar wood can be used to destroy pests

Kat Arney shines a light on the fluorescent DNA marker

Michael Freemantle tells us of discovery that lit the homes and put the food on the table of millions of people

Martha Henriques explains how compounds developed to keep parasites at bay may be protecting rhinos from poachers

Kat Arney reveals how high temperature bacteria provide us with the molecule that speeds up DNA sequencing

Kiki Sanford examines the molecule that holds the balance between life and death

Michael Freemantle awakens us to the history of diethyl ether

Brian Clegg paints a picture of a compound found in ancient cave paintings and top-of-the-range electronics: Manganese dioxide

Michael Freemantle examines the explosive history and chemistry of mercury fulminate

Generally, things get bigger as they get hotter. Neil Withers examines one of the exceptions – zirconium tungstate

There's more to toluene than TNT, as Brian Clegg reveals

From an apron aflame to a popular propellant, Michael Freemantle tracks the history of guncotton

Brian Clegg introduces an essential nutrient, and the first to hold the name 'vitamin': Thiamine or vitamin B

A story which starts knee-deep in sewage and ends with the spread of drug resistant infections like MRSA

Wouldn't it be great to have a molecule named after you? But perhaps not this week's compound, the chemical weapon lewisite

Hayley Birch discovers the compound that opened up a wing of the periodic table for reactions: Xenon hexafluoroplatinate

Raychelle Burks finds out how Potbelly's patrons became poisoning patients, in the mystery of the sodium azide-laced iced tea

In this week's podcast, Matt Gunther reveals the toxic history of gelsemine

In this week's podcast, Raychelle Burks tells us of the cool but warming effects of methyl salicylate, better known as oil of wintergreen.

It's at the heart of the first chemical equation, and makes Hayley Birch think of quiche. This week's compound is antimony sulfide