Since the early 1800s, practitioners of organic chemistry have been fascinated with a group of plant-derived compounds called "alkaloids." Alkaloids contain at least one nitrogen atom among other ...
Poison frogs appear to have built their chemical defenses gradually: related frogs store low to moderate levels of ...
Scorpion venom packs more than a painful sting. It’s also chock full of novel bioactive compounds—most of them polypeptides—that intrigue scientists. For the first time, researchers have identified an ...
The cinchona alkaloids are a family of plant-derived compounds that include quinine, an antimalarial drug also used as the bittering ingredient in tonic water. The biosynthetic pathway in Cinchona ...
Nightshade is a family of plants that includes tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, and peppers. Tobacco is also in the nightshade family. Nightshades are unique because they contain small amounts of ...