How to tell biological from non-biological molecules
Isotopes can verify food additives and aid the search for ET
WOULD YOU like the vanilla in your custard to come from a field of lovely orchids or a barrel of wood pulp? The second option may not seem as appetising, but synthetic vanillin, as vanilla’s flavour-inducing compound (C8H8O3) is called, has a hundredth of the cost. Which warrants suspicion. When you pay your money, are you getting the real stuff?
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “How to C where you are going”
From the October 16th 2021 edition
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