Sadie Otte, lab lecturer in chemistry in the W.M. Keck Science Department, spoke to Chemistry World about the importance of a recent study of perseanol, a potential insecticide that’s natural and eco-friendly. Otte, who did not participate in the study but whose research is in the field of natural product synthesis, says that the researchers’ method of breaking molecules “avoids preconceived biases of what is possible” in synthesized reactions.