Question: What inspired you to go into chemistry work and enzymes to come up with creative ways of producing medicines that will hopefully be very useful?

Sebastian Cosgrove answered on 11 Mar 2019:

I always enjoyed chemistry throughout school, then when I got to University I found organic chemistry (which is the study of chemical bond forming reactions) the most interesting. I decided to do a year in industry during my undergraduate degree, which is where I spent a year working for a company called Syngenta (who make agrochemicals). This was similar work to making pharmaceuticals, but the molecules I made were used to protect plants and not humans! I enjoyed the experience of making molecule so much that I decided to do a PhD in developing new ways to actually ,make the molecules, so an application of this is making new medicines.
During my PhD I got to have a go using enzymes to make molecules, and this was what I saw as the future of chemistry – enzymes are naturally sourced and biodegradable, and can do chemistry that chemists can only dream of! I see them as one of the most important tools to make sure that chemical synthesis becomes sustainable in the future!