National Chemistry Week is sure to go with a bang when it kicks off later this week with an exciting programme of events, lectures and an exclusive screening of the futuristic cult film Blade Runner.
The University of Aberdeen and the Robert Gordon University have joined forces to make this year’s theme, Chemistry for Health: Promoting the Role of Chemical Science, as interesting and widely available to the North and North-east public as possible.
Chemistry Week is a national event organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry. This year, the specific aim is to highlight chemical science’s central role in the health and life sciences in an effort to improve public understanding and government recognition of the important role that chemical science has in our lives.
The programme starts on Saturday, November 20, with an activity day at Satrosphere called Custard, Candles and Carbon Chemistry for all to get hands-on experience of chemistry at 10 interactive workstations.
This will be followed on Monday, November 22, with a screening of Blade Runner at the Virgin Cinemas in Aberdeen. The film features advanced androids called replicants based on advanced genetic engineering methods and the screening will be followed by a discussion on questions raised in the film with an expert panel of scientists from the University of Aberdeen and the Scottish Episcopal Church. Entry to this event, which is sponsored by Virgin Cinemas, is free, but tickets must be obtained from Kim Bisset on (01224) 272943.
The rest of the week-long programme of events will comprise lectures looking at current issues, such as the chemistry and cancer, the chemistry of mental health and the use of natural resources in the treatment in such diseases as cancer.
One of the organisers of this year’s events is Dr Marcel Jaspars, a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen’s Department of Chemistry. He said:
“Chemistry plays a pivotal role in the life sciences today. Chemistry week is designed to help people understand that chemistry is fundamental to everyday life. We rely on chemistry for drugs, materials and energy. In essence, all life relies on chemistry.
“As well as that, the annual production in the UK of pharmaceuticals alone is worth £12billion, so chemistry is of economic importance too.”
Dr Peter Robertson of the School of Applied Sciences at the Robert Gordon University said that, in particular, the lectures on topics as diverse as Chemistry and Cancer and Chemistry and Mental Health would illustrate the importance of chemical science to topical health issues.
“The film Blade Runner raises several scientific and moral issues about the possible uses of genetic engineering and we are looking forward to a lively discussion with our expert panel after the film. We hope that the various events will raise awareness of the influence of chemistry around us,” he added.
A web site has also been set up and can be accessed on www.abdn.ac.uk/pr/chemwk.hti.