Chemical chirality in popular fiction
Encyclopedia
Although little was known about chemical chirality
in the time of Lewis Carroll
, his work Through the Looking-glass
contains a prescient reference to the differing biological activities of enantiomeric drugs: "Perhaps Looking-glass milk isn't good to drink," Alice said to her cat.
In the Dorothy L. Sayers
novel The Documents in the Case
a murder is committed that is designed to appear to be accidental death caused by eating poisonous mushrooms containing muscarine
. The case is proved to be murder because the muscarine found in the deceased's stomach is racemic and therefore synthetic.
In James Blish's Star Trek novella Spock Must Die!
the tachyon
'mirrored' Mr Spock is later discovered to have stolen chemical reagents from the medical bay and to have been using them to convert certain amino acids to opposite-chirality isomers, since the mirrored Mr Spock's metabolism is reversed, and, hence, must process the opposite polarity of these isomers.
In Larry Niven
's Destiny's Road
, the title planet's indigenous life is based upon right-handed proteins. When human colonists arrive from Earth via a generation ship
, extreme measures are taken to permit the colony's survival. A peninsula is sterilized with a lander's fusion
drive, creating the titular "road" out of fused bedrock. The area is then reseeded with Earth life to provide the colonists with food. Though the soil lacks potassium
due to other factors, necessitating supplements that produce a hydraulic empire
common to Niven's fiction, the colony otherwise prospers. Native viruses and bacteria cannot infect colonists, resulting in longer lifespans. Sealife quickly recovers, and is consumed by the colonists as a "diet" food, as their digestive systems cannot metabolize it into fat.
Marti Steussy's "Dreams of Dawn" (1988) has a similar premise, where the locals evolved based on right-handed amino acids.
In the Trauma Center series of games, doctors test for a "chiral reaction" in order to determine whether or not a patient is infected with "Gangliated Utrophin Immuno Latency Toxin," a fictional, parasitic pathogen more commonly referred to as G.U.I.L.T. A positive reaction means the patient is infected, while a negative reaction means the patient has either been cured or is not infected.
In the video game Mass Effect
, the turian and quarian alien races have biology based upon right-handed amino acids. Because of this foods from other races which have life forms based upon left-handed amino acids have no nutritional value and may cause fatal allergic reactions.
The denouement of Poul Anderson
's After Doomsday
relies partly on chirality.
The plot of Roger Zelazny
's Doorways in the Sand
centers around a device called the Rhennius Machine, any object passed through which will emerge its complete chiral opposite, down to the molecular level.
Chirality (chemistry)
A chiral molecule is a type of molecule that lacks an internal plane of symmetry and thus has a non-superimposable mirror image. The feature that is most often the cause of chirality in molecules is the presence of an asymmetric carbon atom....
in the time of Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
, his work Through the Looking-glass
Through the Looking-Glass
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There is a work of literature by Lewis Carroll . It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
contains a prescient reference to the differing biological activities of enantiomeric drugs: "Perhaps Looking-glass milk isn't good to drink," Alice said to her cat.
In the Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy Leigh Sayers was a renowned English crime writer, poet, playwright, essayist, translator and Christian humanist. She was also a student of classical and modern languages...
novel The Documents in the Case
The Documents in the Case
The Documents in the Case is a 1930 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers and Robert Eustace. It is the only one of Sayers' twelve major crime novels not to feature Lord Peter Wimsey, her most famous detective character.-Plot:...
a murder is committed that is designed to appear to be accidental death caused by eating poisonous mushrooms containing muscarine
Muscarine
Muscarine, L--muscarine, or muscarin is a natural product found in certain mushrooms, particularly in Inocybe and Clitocybe species, such as the deadly C. dealbata. Mushrooms in the genera Entoloma and Mycena have also been found to contain levels of muscarine which can be dangerous if ingested...
. The case is proved to be murder because the muscarine found in the deceased's stomach is racemic and therefore synthetic.
In James Blish's Star Trek novella Spock Must Die!
Spock Must Die!
Spock Must Die! is a Star Trek novel by James Blish released in 1970. It was published by Bantam Books. It is notable as the second of hundreds of original novels to be based upon the Star Trek franchise....
the tachyon
Tachyon
A tachyon is a hypothetical subatomic particle that always moves faster than light. In the language of special relativity, a tachyon would be a particle with space-like four-momentum and imaginary proper time. A tachyon would be constrained to the space-like portion of the energy-momentum graph...
'mirrored' Mr Spock is later discovered to have stolen chemical reagents from the medical bay and to have been using them to convert certain amino acids to opposite-chirality isomers, since the mirrored Mr Spock's metabolism is reversed, and, hence, must process the opposite polarity of these isomers.
In Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
's Destiny's Road
Destiny's Road
Destiny's Road is a science fiction novel by Larry Niven first published in 1998. It follows Jemmy Bloocher's exploration of Destiny's Road, a long scar of once-melted rock seared onto the planet's surface by a spaceship's fusion drive...
, the title planet's indigenous life is based upon right-handed proteins. When human colonists arrive from Earth via a generation ship
Generation ship
A generation ship is a hypothetical type of interstellar ark starship that travels across great distances between stars at a speed much slower than the speed of light...
, extreme measures are taken to permit the colony's survival. A peninsula is sterilized with a lander's fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
drive, creating the titular "road" out of fused bedrock. The area is then reseeded with Earth life to provide the colonists with food. Though the soil lacks potassium
Potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K and atomic number 19. Elemental potassium is a soft silvery-white alkali metal that oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite the hydrogen emitted in the reaction.Potassium and sodium are...
due to other factors, necessitating supplements that produce a hydraulic empire
Hydraulic empire
A hydraulic empire is a social or government structure which maintains power and control through exclusive control over access to water...
common to Niven's fiction, the colony otherwise prospers. Native viruses and bacteria cannot infect colonists, resulting in longer lifespans. Sealife quickly recovers, and is consumed by the colonists as a "diet" food, as their digestive systems cannot metabolize it into fat.
Marti Steussy's "Dreams of Dawn" (1988) has a similar premise, where the locals evolved based on right-handed amino acids.
In the Trauma Center series of games, doctors test for a "chiral reaction" in order to determine whether or not a patient is infected with "Gangliated Utrophin Immuno Latency Toxin," a fictional, parasitic pathogen more commonly referred to as G.U.I.L.T. A positive reaction means the patient is infected, while a negative reaction means the patient has either been cured or is not infected.
In the video game Mass Effect
Mass Effect
Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows by Demiurge Studios. The Xbox 360 version was released worldwide in November 2007 published by Microsoft Game Studios...
, the turian and quarian alien races have biology based upon right-handed amino acids. Because of this foods from other races which have life forms based upon left-handed amino acids have no nutritional value and may cause fatal allergic reactions.
The denouement of Poul Anderson
Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...
's After Doomsday
After Doomsday
After Doomsday is a science fiction novel by American writer Poul Anderson. It was published as a complete novel in 1962, having been serialized as The Day after Doomsday in the magazine Galaxy, between December 1961 and February 1962....
relies partly on chirality.
The plot of Roger Zelazny
Roger Zelazny
Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...
's Doorways in the Sand
Doorways in the Sand
Doorways in the Sand is a Nebula- and Hugo-nominated science fiction novel with mystery and comic elements by Roger Zelazny. It was originally published in serial form in the magazine Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact; the hardcover edition was first published in 1976 and the paperback in...
centers around a device called the Rhennius Machine, any object passed through which will emerge its complete chiral opposite, down to the molecular level.