Plants absorb carbon dioxide molecules from the air and synthesize chemical substances that are a crucial part of our ecosystem. We rely every day on the chemicals produced by both kinds of plants for food and medicine. Many pharmaceutical products were originally extracted from plants, or are closely related to those extracted compounds. An estimated 80% of the world’s population relies completely on herbal medicine to treat disease.

So chemical plants, whether created by humans or found in nature, produce molecules essential to every-day life. Often the same molecules can be used to save lives or destroy them, depending on the dose of the substance, and the way it is used in society.  Let’s consider one example.