Mystery in the Rye

Frank Petersen studied biology at the universities of Stuttgart-Hohenheim and Tübingen and has been the Head of the Natural Product department at the pharmaceutical company Novartis AG in Basel for many years. In his pharmaceutical research, the internationally renowned scientist focuses on the discovery, genetics, and production of novel active substances from fungi, bacteria, and plants as potential new therapeutics. In the context of implementing the “Convention on Biological Diversity”, he has advised working groups at the European Union, the Swiss Federal Assembly, the German Federal Government, the World Trade Organization, and the United Nations. Invitations to guest professorships have taken him to Seoul, Korea, and Shanghai, China. For his contributions to microbial natural product research, he was awarded the “Senior Industrial Science Award 2020” by the Swiss Chemical Society. He is a member of the advisory board of “Swiss Youth in Science” and chairs the advisory committee of the Novartis Pavillon Basel.

• A momentous ménage à trois of fungus, grass, and insect develops.- The horror begins!.- Unraveling the mystery of gangrenous and convulsive ergotism: a beacon for the Order of St. Anthony, a dilemma of the ergot remedy in medicine.- A lawyer clarifies the nature of ergot, but it remains a tough nut for pharmacists to crack.- Successful failures and accidental breakthroughs are changing the field of medicine.- Darn, the equation doesn’t add up!.- Albert Hofmann’s path to psychotogenic LSD.- A pas de deux of molecules, or the discovery of the chemistry of the psyche.- Urgently wanted: new paths to a stable ergot alkaloid production.- Last secrets of ergot and its ingredients are revealed.- Notes and further reading.