#  Our most-read news from 2017 

 





January 04, 2018

 

 

- [ News ](/news-categories/news)
 
 

 

 In 2017, our department made daring discoveries, pursued new frontiers, and excelled in teaching and research. Below, we countdown the year's ten most-read news and celebrate the varied successes of our faculty, students, researchers and alumni.

##  10.

###    ![Alan Yang](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/chemistry/files/alan-bw.jpg?itok=0EPXHLjk) 

 

[Alan Yang, an undergraduate in the Kahne Lab, wins a Rhodes Scholarship](https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news/alan-yang-wins-rhodes-scholarship)

 One of only 32 Americans to win a Rhodes Scholarship, the Class of 2018 undergraduate will travel to the University of Oxford next October.

##  9.

###    ![Kevin Mellem](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/chemistry/files/kevin_mellem_alumnus.jpg?itok=awE-_sJm) 

 

[Alumnus joins Bay Area pharmaceutical start-up](https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news/alumnus-bay-area-pharmaceutical-start)

 After a postdoctoral research fellowship with Professor Andrew G. Myers, Kevin joined the start-up company Revolution Medicines as one of its first two chemists.

##  8.

###    ![Undergraduate Chemistry](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/chemistry/files/undergrad_poster_session_sq.jpg?itok=extAbnaH) 

 

[Advanced Laboratories (CHEM 100R and 165) Poster Session](https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news/undergraduate-poster-session)

 Maria Brouard, a spunky undergraduate studying Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, beamed next to her poster. She had only one problem with her final project: it didn’t have enough color.

##  7.

###    ![Dependency of a therapy-resistant state of cancer cells on a lipid peroxidase pathway](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/chemistry/files/schreiber_stuart_cen_july_2017_article.png?itok=XEe6aE-C) 

 

[Stuart Schreiber's latest discovery in his fight against treatment-resistant cancers](https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news/stuart-schrieber-his-latest-fight-against-treatment-resistant-cancers)

 Stuart Schreiber has been searching for vulnerabilities in treatment-resistant cancer cells. Recently, he found one.

##  6.

###    ![Li Zha Nature Publication, August 2017](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/chemistry/files/nchembio.2448-f1.jpg?itok=6eugM9zl) 

 

[New use for SAM from Li Zha and the Balskus Group](https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news/new-use-sam-li-zha-and-balskus-group)

 Li Zha, a sixth-year graduate student in the [Balskus Lab](https://www.microbialchemist.com/), is the lead author on a new paper titled "Colibactin assembly line enzymes use S-adenosylmethionine to build a cyclopropane ring," from *Nature Chemical Biology*.

##  5.

###    ![Professor Balskus Nature Publication](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/chemistry/files/balsus_publication_jun_2017.jpg?itok=bkdeZTIe) 

 

[New publication from Professor Emily Balskus, the "Microbiome Code Breaker"](https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news/new-publication-emily-balskus-morris-kahn-associate-professor-chemistry-chemical)

 *Nature Chemical Biology* published "A new strategy for aromatic ring alkylation in cylindrocyclophane biosynthesis."

##  4.

###    ![ACS Award Winners 2018](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/chemistry/files/acs_award_winners_2018.png?itok=7x4kaNPx) 

 

[ACS honors David Liu and Emily Balskus](https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news/david-liu-and-emily-balskus-named-2018-acs-national-award-winners)

 Two CCB faculty members, David Liu and Emily Balskus, earned prestigious ACS National Awards.

##  3.

###    ![Using human embryonic kidney cells, researchers have come up with a way to edit specific letters in the genome.](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/chemistry/files/liu_nature_article_oct_2017.jpg?itok=ji7n6A1d) 

 

[David R. Liu's latest paper on DNA "Base Editing" published in Nature](https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news/nature)

 Liu and team's new technique targets individual letters, or genetic bases, and has the potential to correct more than half of all human genetic diseases.

##  2.

###    ![Professor Nocera's Artificial Leaf](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/chemistry/files/artificial_leaf_sq.jpg?itok=1_mIMnFk) 

 

[Artificial Leaf Named a 2017 Breakthrough Technology](https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news/artificial-leaf-named-2017-breakthrough-technology)

 The artificial leaf, an innovation from Daniel Nocera and Pamela Silver, promises to transform the world of energy technology.

##  1.

###    ![Jarad Mason](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/chemistry/files/j_mason_sq.jpg?itok=7GSc3lTh) 

 



###  [Warm welcome to Dr. Jarad Mason](https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news/warm-welcome-dr-jarad-mason)

 Dr. Mason joins the department on January 1, 2018 as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry.

####  [Browse all CCB news](https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news)



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Mason ](/news-and-events-faculty/mason)
- [ Nocera ](/news-and-events-faculty/nocera)
- [ David Liu ](/news-and-events-faculty/liu)
- [ Balskus ](/news-and-events-faculty/balskus)
- [ Kahne ](/news-and-events-faculty/kahne)
- [ Myers ](/news-and-events-faculty/myers)
- [ Schreiber ](/news-and-events-faculty/schreiber)
- [ Alumni ](/news-type/alumni)
- [ Faculty ](/news-event-type/faculty)
- [ Prizes & Awards ](/news-type/prizes-awards)
- [ Research ](/news-event-type/research)
- [ Education ](/news-event-type/education)
- [ Graduate ](/news-event-type/graduate)
 
 

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