So, the oil price rises and those basic chemicals that are tied to the oil price will also rise.

FORBES: Why the US Chemicals Industry is Booming

He has spent the past two years trying to sell the cyclical chunks of the group, especially basic chemicals, and to concentrate on research-intensive drugs, which produce higher margins and more stable profits.

ECONOMIST: Restructuring corporate Germany

In 1991, when the government started liberalizing, the brothers figured they could expand in basic chemicals or move into higher-value work for the drug and chemical industries.

FORBES: Pharma and Fast Food Fuel the Jubilant Bhartia Group

As is the case for many other industries, chemicals companies recognize the need to move beyond basic analytical applications to those than can enable predictive action, and move towards more real-time response.

FORBES: Risk Analytics: Insights for Chemicals Companies

Scientists use at least 20 million rodents a year in experiments in the U.S., to test foods, drugs and chemicals and to unearth basic truths about the causation of disease and the functioning of the human immune system.

FORBES: Of Mice and Mischief

It is probably fair to say that deep-sea research today is equally important to both pure and applied research, since the discovery of new species not only nurtures basic knowledge but is also likely to lead to the identification of new chemicals, which in turn tend to lead to new applications and new economic markets.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

This is the first example of a life form that can live with a different set of basic chemicals.

FORBES: Why Those Cool Arsenic Bacteria Are Not A New Form Of Life

The Midland, Michigan-based company still gets 40% of its revenues from basic commodity chemicals and plastics.

FORBES: Chemical transformation

Here is item number 18 in the tables: bread, white, large loaf, with its values in protein, fat, calories and chemicals, which so impressed the Widdowson-McCance couple in their quest for a reliable basic diet.

ECONOMIST: Elsie Widdowson