Episode 69: Dr. Martin Burke on Democratizing Molecular Innovation

With 8 billion imaginations in the world, Dr. Martin Burke calculates that the number of specialists who are able to create molecules can fit into a single building. On this exciting episode of Let’s Talk Chemistry edited by Presley Vu, hosts Nina Deng and Poorvi Iyer talk with Dr. Burke, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Champaign and Founding Director of the Molecule Maker Lab. Dr. Burke is known for pioneering BLOCC chemistry, a modular approach to synthesis that opens up molecule building to non-specialists, robotics, and AI. This has paved the way to creating new treatments and digital platforms where making molecules become easily programmable and accessible to anyone. We hope you enjoy!