• Question: Have you ever been close to discovering a new reaction?

    Asked by anon-242846 to Mairi, Danica on 9 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Danica Pinto

      Danica Pinto answered on 9 Mar 2020:

      Hi beep393ham,
      Although my work did not mainly involve discovering a new reaction, I was able to design and build a portable set-up that has real world future applications as a trace gas detector in the atmosphere or as a breath acetone detector that can be used to monitor the condition of a Type 1 diabetic patient without having the need to undergo a blood test that involves using a needle which can be an inconvenience.

    • Photo: Mairi

      Mairi answered on 10 Mar 2020:

      Hi – no unfortunately I haven’t! My research has always focused more on making new molecules that no one has made before (we call this synthesis based!) rather than making things with new reactions (we call this methodology), but I know a lot of people who have discovered new reactions!

Comments