Smells of extinct plants revived by biotech company

[FfFfFfFF 58,133]

Telephones were a new invention and William Howard Taft was U.S. president the last time anyone might have smelled a Hibiscadelphus wilderianus tree blooming in the wild. 

A distant cousin of Hawaii’s famous hibiscus flowers, the tree was native to the southern slope of Mount Haleakala, on the island of Maui. It’s likely that H. wilderianus went extinct between 1910 and 1913, judging from reported sightings of it dying.

More than a century later, a group of scientists would wonder whether extinction was truly the end of the species’ story. What if this plant no longer seen in the wild—found only between dry pages in an archive—could be brought back to life, at least partially?

Resurrecting a smell isn’t just about smelling something that no longer exists, says Sissel Tolaas, a researcher and artist whose Smell Research Lab in Berlin worked with Ginkgo on the plant project.

“Through smell you engage with memory and emotion,” she says. Calling forth a long-lost smell is a way of experiencing the extinct feelings it might have sparked, a whiff of the past.

The synthetic biology used to revive extinct scents is the next frontier in innovation, Christina Agapakis, the creative director at Ginkgo Bioworks says. So far, Ginkgo Bioworks has had a hand in creating microbes that replace chemical fertilizers, concocting skin-care products with living bacteria, and cultivating proteins used in meat alternatives.

Source - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/this-plant-no-longer-exists-but-you-can-still-smell-it

[CooterFritter 777]

Mama wants to smell

[Madam Margolyes 7,783]

Someone will turn this thread sexual i can smell it

[Ray of Light 8,134]

rise up lotus, this is the beginning 

[RAMROD 117,125]

Finally, my hobby on sniffing stuffs can be put to good use

[NichuuB 43,788]

22 minutes ago, Madam Margolyes said:

Someone will turn this thread sexual i can smell it

 

1 minute ago, RAMROD said:

Finally, my hobby on sniffing stuffs can be put to good use

It didnt even take that long

[BradleyCooper 2,305]

[RAMROD 117,125]

1 minute ago, NicoB said:

 

It didnt even take that long

 

 

Do not @ me. I am innocent.

 

[weed 78,964]

1 hour ago, FfFfFfFF said:

wild...**** tree

what my eyes see

[FfFfFfFF 58,133]

5 hours ago, CooterFritter said:

Mama wants to smell

I read the entire article and they don't say how it smells at all, no reference to anything.

[FfFfFfFF 58,133]

On 12/3/2021 at 5:26 PM, CooterFritter said:

Mama wants to smell

Here is the only smell description I could find -> 

As an amateur I would describe the Leucadendron as deep and tobacco-y, the Orbexilum as citrusy and candy-like, and the Hibiscadelphus as rich.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/guerilla-artist-daisy-ginsberg-recreates-scent-of-extinct-flowers/

[CooterFritter 777]

10 minutes ago, FfFfFfFF said:

Here is the only smell description I could find -> 

As an amateur I would describe the Leucadendron as deep and tobacco-y, the Orbexilum as citrusy and candy-like, and the Hibiscadelphus as rich.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/guerilla-artist-daisy-ginsberg-recreates-scent-of-extinct-flowers/

Ugh that would be so cool to smell stuff from the past. It seems like an interesting idea. 

[Chromatislaps 34,854]

On 12/3/2021 at 4:58 PM, RAMROD said:

Finally, my hobby on sniffing stuffs can be put to good use

inb4 resynthesizing smells from long gone daddies 

[RAMROD 117,125]

3 minutes ago, Chromatislaps said:

inb4 resynthesizing smells from long gone daddies 

Me coming in as first person to volunteer 

 

 

[FfFfFfFF 58,133]

17 hours ago, CooterFritter said:

Ugh that would be so cool to smell stuff from the past. It seems like an interesting idea. 

True! I made another thread about the attempt to recreate smells from the past a while ago (not plant scents, but historical ones) -