Who Knows Medicinal Chemistry? Expertise, Attrition, and the Dissolving Boundaries of a Craft

Abstract Medicinal chemistry treats expertise as something one possesses or lacks, and arranges people accordingly. Yet the knowledge is largely tacit, its outcomes are dominated by attrition, and its boundaries are dissolving as new modalities, AI, and cross-organizational work draw other disciplines into design. This Viewpoint offers a more defensible measure of expertise.