Seven Molecules’ Claim to Fame
From drinking water to DNA, from caffeine to carbon dioxide, and from Lipitor to Viagra—that is from atorvastatin to sildenafil citrate—molecules define our personalities, regulate our abilities, and dictate our feelings. Invisible to the human eye, many of them are biological celebrities: They famously smell or stink, make us feel depressed or elated, pollute our planet or save our lives. Even the most destructive molecules are so essential to our civilization that modern industry wouldn’t exist without them. Here we describe seven of the most prominent corpuscular figures, without which our life would be completely different. In fact, without some of them, scientists say, there’d be no human life at all.
Beta-ionone—the sexy scent superstar
Beta-ionone, the sweet-smelling molecule that gives many a flower its pleasant alluring aroma, is famed for its sexy odor. You smell it when you sniff wild violets, enjoy your Valentine’s Day bouquet, or catch a whiff of Chanel perfume.
“Flowers are the sexual organs of plants,” says Ayala Moriel of Ayala Moriel Parfums, which
