Merck developed MDMA in the early 1900s as part of its effort to create a blood clotting drug

The pharmaceutical industry evolved, in part, from the discovery of synthetic dyes

In 1856, a chemist accidentally discovered mauveine, the world’s first synthetic dye, while trying to make quinine to treat malaria. The synthetic dyes that followed helped reveal germs under microscopes, paving the way for modern imaging techniques and breakthrough treatments, such as antibiotics.

The FDA rejected MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD in 2024, calling for more research

The decision was considered to be a major setback for moving psychedelics into the mainstream for mental health treatment. Pharmaceutical company Lykos, who had applied for the approval, had already attracted significant support from patients, politicians on both sides of the aisle, and leaders in the mental health field.

How a dose of MDMA transformed a white supremacist

A man leading a faction of the US white nationalist movement took part in a psychedelic trial on the pleasantness of social touch and came away from it with his beliefs reportedly upended. He left researchers a note on a form, stating, "this experience has helped me sort out a debilitating personal issue. Google my name. I now know what I need to do."

Oxford scientists turned Fleming’s mold discovery into medicine

In 1939, a team at Oxford—including Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley—revived Fleming’s forgotten discovery. Using makeshift equipment like bedpans and milk churns, they purified enough penicillin to prove it could treat deadly infections.

LSD was derived from natural compounds produced by the ergot fungus

Ergot is a fungus that slowly infects and replaces individual grains on grasses, including rye and wheat. Ingesting ergot can cause ergotism, a form of poisoning with symptoms—including headaches, hallucinations, gangrene, and convulsions—varying by season and geography. This grain was used for medicinal purposes as early as the 1500s.

This is the human brain on the world's strongest psychedelic

Within seconds of inhaling a high dose of vaporized synthetic 5-MeO-DMT—a lab-produced substance that otherwise is naturally derived from the glands of the Colorado River toad—it induced slow brain waves. Such waves are typically associated with unconsciousness due to a coma or anesthesia, perhaps explaining why users describe feeling like everything falls away. The compound is currently in clinical trials for treating depression.

Pharmaceutical companies can use ChatGPT to improve drug development

Moderna has incorporated the tool into its workflows to accelerate analysis and identify optimal drug dosage from clinical data. The company's legal team also uses a custom GPT—Contract Companion—to break down and summarize contracts quickly.

Aspirin was the first synthesized anti-inflammatory drug

Once used by the ancient Sumarians—extracted from willow bark—but now synthesized in the lab, the active ingredient of this popular medication has been used to treat headaches and pain for thousands of years.

Michael Sveda discovered cyclamate by accident

When this lab researcher brought his hands to his lips to smoke his cigarette in 1937, he tasted something sweet, which he called cyclamate. It was quickly used in diet sodas, but it was banned from the US in 1969 after being linked to rodent bladder cancer in lab experiments.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Coca-Cola was created during a patent medicine boom

A "patent medicine" is a proprietary medicine that is ostensibly created and marketed under a patent, and, crucially, is available without prescription.

The birth of the multivitamin

In 1912, biochemist Kazimierz Funk, often anglicized as Casimir Funk, proposed that there existed an essential nutrient in food that could prevent deficiency diseases, such as scurvy or rickets. This article explores the origin of the multivitamin, an invention that has garnished...

In 2015, the FDA approved the first 3D-printed prescription tablet

Spritam, an epilepsy medication, had been too large and difficult to swallow, particularly due to its inability to dissolve easily. The new pill was designed with porous layers to enhance its dissolvability, paving the way for future 3D printing of drugs.

MSG was first isolated from seaweed in Japan in 1908

The compound monosodium glutamate has been identified in dairy, meats and vegetables, and provides an "umami"—Japanese for "tasty"—flavor to food. Studies in the late 1960s characterized MSG as harmful, but only when testing doses hundreds of times greater than what would be consumed in a typical diet.

JJ Schildkraut theorized depression is linked to brain chemical imbalances—in 1965

Schildkraut was one of the first to put forward this idea, which stemmed from lab animal research. A decade later, researchers published the first landmark paper on fluoxetine—better known by trade name Prozac—which increases serotonin levels in the brain.

Why don't we synthesize blood?

We're trying. Scientists are currently working on creating viable synthetic blood, an alternative to the presently relied-upon donations that manage to fall short of demand. More than half of the world's nations struggle to meet their population's need for blood. This article details current and historical efforts to develop synthetic blood, a venture that started more than 400 years ago.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157

The unapproved peptide—which has received glowing testimonials from bodybuilders, biohackers, popular podcasters, and some in the MAHA movement— is often sourced from China. It has been used for myriad conditions. But scientific questions about the substance abound, including whether it's truly a natural substance produced by the human body, since genetic material that codes for its unique amino acid sequence hasn't been found in the human genome or the gut microbiome. Other unknowns include how it works in the body, which receptors it targets, and its safety, since evidence beyond anecdotes remains scant in humans.

The story of Marie Nyswander, the woman who co-discovered methadone maintenance

Methadone, an opioid with distinct effects from heroin, revolutionized heroin addiction in the 1960s. Marie Nyswander was a psychoanalyst who helped discover the treatment process which is still in use today. Here's a podcast episode examining her life and role in the field of addiction treatment.

Molecular evidence suggests the deadliest malaria parasite may be 100,000 years old

Plasmodium falciparum, the form of the parasite that kills the most humans, may date back 100,000 years, according to mitochondrial DNA analysis published in Science in 2003. It suggests that the parasite took off in humans about 10,000 years ago.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Mosquito saliva acts as an anticlotting agent

The bug's piercing mouthpart, the proboscis, is actually several tubes—one for sucking, one for spitting. But the chemicals in its spit actually help its blood meal to flow, combating its victim's ability to clot at the puncture site.

Drug trafficking in the MENA

The Middle East and North Africa is a major source, transit point, and consumer of illicit drugs. Despite having some of the harshest penalties for drug-related crimes, the region both influences and is negatively impacted by illicit substance abuse...

See this searchable resource about herbal therapies, including evidence and drug interactions

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has created this searchable resource of herbal supplements to inform the public about the purported uses of herbal therapies, the existing evidence about them, their mechanism of action, and any concerns about potential herbal supplement and drug interactions.

Premarin was the bestselling drug in the US in 1992

The drug, derived from the urine or pregnant mares, raised ethical and animal welfare concerns, but also became wildly popular until the Women's Health Initiative study findings in 2002 (which have since been largely disproved). In the 1990s, Premarin was used to treat menopause symptoms and also to protect against osteoporosis and heart disease among older women.

How the environmental diversity of coral reefs provides potential medical treatments for humans

As immobile animals, corals and the organisms that live on them have evolved a suite of chemical compounds to prevent disease and ward off predators they cannot outrun. These include antibiotics, antivirals, and powerful toxins that target the nervous system and are studied for applications involving pain management and neurological treatments.

Oral rehydration solution was developed in the 1960s in response to cholera deaths

Drinking this life-saving mix, which consists of clean water, salts, and sugar, helps the human body rehydrate after extreme bouts of diarrhea, vomiting, or both. It's now used for a variety of diarrheal diseases.

Targeting cholesterol metabolism may help address macular degeneration

Research published in 2025, based on human plasma samples and mouse models, indicates that boosting the levels of a molecule called apolipoprotein M in the blood can improve cholesterol processing, helping prevent some cellular damage that contributes to age-related macular degeneration.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

Marburg virus, related to Ebola, is also extremely deadly, and has no available vaccine.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.