Dr. Erik Sorensen on Chemistry
Uploaded by NIGMS on 10.09.2010
Transcript:
Introduction: This Findings Videocast is brought to you
Introduction: by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences,
Introduction: part of the National Institutes of Health.
Introduction: The Findings Videocast series features the NIGMS-funded scientists
Introduction: profiled in each issue of the Findings magazine.
Machalek: I'm Alisa Machalek, science writer
Machalek: at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Machalek: and I'm here with professor Erik Sorensen of Princeton University.
Machalek: He's a chemist,
Machalek: who builds or synthesizes molecules that are found in nature.
Machalek: This field is called synthetic organic chemistry of natural products.
Machalek: Dr. Sorensen, can you tell us what is important
Machalek: about the field of synthetic organic chemistry?
Sorensen:So a goal for the field is to invent new chemical reactions
Sorensen: that allow us to make large amounts of things that are really important.
Sorensen: Molecules like Taxol, for example.
Sorensen: They will often be scarce natural products,
Sorensen: so they are not very available from their native habitat.
Sorensen: And we are also interested in molecules
Sorensen: where there is a gap in our knowledge about the properties of these molecules.
Sorensen: Therefore there would be an incentive to make more of a certain type of molecule
Sorensen: so that you might learn more about its properties.
Sorensen:We have the ability to create not only the molecule that nature has already made,
Sorensen: but we can create new molecules, molecules that never existed before.
Sorensen: This is one of the things that make chemistry unique within the sciences.
Machalek: And what advice would you give for a student who is considering a career in chemistry?
Sorensen: If I were a young person thinking that I would want to do chemistry as a profession,
Sorensen: I would try to find a good laboratory experience at as early stage as possible.
Sorensen: That would be the advice I would give.
Sorensen: It's a fantastically creative activity.
Sorensen: And I think if you're a young person
Sorensen: and you get exposed to the creative side of chemistry, you'll get hooked.
Sorensen: It took me awhile to get hooked;
Sorensen: I didn't take chemistry seriously until I was in college.
Sorensen: But once I did that, there was no going back.
Sorensen: I thought I was going medical school,
Sorensen: but then I learned a little bit more about organic chemistry
Sorensen: and I mixed chemicals and got a few reactions that actually worked.
Sorensen: That was it for me. That was the hook.
Machalek: Can you tell us some of the challenges or goals in your field?
Sorensen: I would say we're still in that phase
Sorensen: where we're good at making small amounts of complicated things,
Sorensen: not so good at making large amounts of complicated things.
Sorensen: That's a problem for the future.
Sorensen: There is also an opportunity to develop new ways to do chemistry through catalysis,
Sorensen: so using resources intelligently, using resources that don't,
Sorensen: using molecules that don't damage the environment,
Sorensen: developing new catalysts that allow sophisticated chemistry
Sorensen: to happen under benign, gentle conditions.
Machalek: Dr. Sorensen, what are some of the most surprising
Machalek: or exciting things that have occurred in your career?
Sorensen: So I would say nearly on a daily basis,
Sorensen: we're making surprising discoveries about
Sorensen: how molecules behave and how they interact with each other.
Sorensen: In the recent past, we have become rather interested
Sorensen: in trying to bring what we do to bear on neglected diseases like malaria.
Sorensen: We are actively pursuing laboratory synthesis of molecules
Sorensen: that are known to have a high level of effectiveness
Sorensen: in the treatment of malaria and also tuberculosis.
Sorensen: Of course you can plan research but not the results.
Sorensen: Work in this kind of field can be slow and one has to have a lot of patience.
Sorensen: And my graduate students and my post-doctoral coworkers,
Sorensen: they are well aware that it can take awhile to figure out
Sorensen: how to get molecules to dance to your tune.
Machalek: Dr. Sorensen, thank you for your time today
Sorensen: and best wishes in your research on chemical synthesis.
Introduction: by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences,
Introduction: part of the National Institutes of Health.
Introduction: The Findings Videocast series features the NIGMS-funded scientists
Introduction: profiled in each issue of the Findings magazine.
Machalek: I'm Alisa Machalek, science writer
Machalek: at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Machalek: and I'm here with professor Erik Sorensen of Princeton University.
Machalek: He's a chemist,
Machalek: who builds or synthesizes molecules that are found in nature.
Machalek: This field is called synthetic organic chemistry of natural products.
Machalek: Dr. Sorensen, can you tell us what is important
Machalek: about the field of synthetic organic chemistry?
Sorensen:So a goal for the field is to invent new chemical reactions
Sorensen: that allow us to make large amounts of things that are really important.
Sorensen: Molecules like Taxol, for example.
Sorensen: They will often be scarce natural products,
Sorensen: so they are not very available from their native habitat.
Sorensen: And we are also interested in molecules
Sorensen: where there is a gap in our knowledge about the properties of these molecules.
Sorensen: Therefore there would be an incentive to make more of a certain type of molecule
Sorensen: so that you might learn more about its properties.
Sorensen:We have the ability to create not only the molecule that nature has already made,
Sorensen: but we can create new molecules, molecules that never existed before.
Sorensen: This is one of the things that make chemistry unique within the sciences.
Machalek: And what advice would you give for a student who is considering a career in chemistry?
Sorensen: If I were a young person thinking that I would want to do chemistry as a profession,
Sorensen: I would try to find a good laboratory experience at as early stage as possible.
Sorensen: That would be the advice I would give.
Sorensen: It's a fantastically creative activity.
Sorensen: And I think if you're a young person
Sorensen: and you get exposed to the creative side of chemistry, you'll get hooked.
Sorensen: It took me awhile to get hooked;
Sorensen: I didn't take chemistry seriously until I was in college.
Sorensen: But once I did that, there was no going back.
Sorensen: I thought I was going medical school,
Sorensen: but then I learned a little bit more about organic chemistry
Sorensen: and I mixed chemicals and got a few reactions that actually worked.
Sorensen: That was it for me. That was the hook.
Machalek: Can you tell us some of the challenges or goals in your field?
Sorensen: I would say we're still in that phase
Sorensen: where we're good at making small amounts of complicated things,
Sorensen: not so good at making large amounts of complicated things.
Sorensen: That's a problem for the future.
Sorensen: There is also an opportunity to develop new ways to do chemistry through catalysis,
Sorensen: so using resources intelligently, using resources that don't,
Sorensen: using molecules that don't damage the environment,
Sorensen: developing new catalysts that allow sophisticated chemistry
Sorensen: to happen under benign, gentle conditions.
Machalek: Dr. Sorensen, what are some of the most surprising
Machalek: or exciting things that have occurred in your career?
Sorensen: So I would say nearly on a daily basis,
Sorensen: we're making surprising discoveries about
Sorensen: how molecules behave and how they interact with each other.
Sorensen: In the recent past, we have become rather interested
Sorensen: in trying to bring what we do to bear on neglected diseases like malaria.
Sorensen: We are actively pursuing laboratory synthesis of molecules
Sorensen: that are known to have a high level of effectiveness
Sorensen: in the treatment of malaria and also tuberculosis.
Sorensen: Of course you can plan research but not the results.
Sorensen: Work in this kind of field can be slow and one has to have a lot of patience.
Sorensen: And my graduate students and my post-doctoral coworkers,
Sorensen: they are well aware that it can take awhile to figure out
Sorensen: how to get molecules to dance to your tune.
Machalek: Dr. Sorensen, thank you for your time today
Sorensen: and best wishes in your research on chemical synthesis.