/oss/taxonomy/term/73/all en /oss/article/history-did-you-know/even-aspirin-doesnt-grow-trees <p>It is a common misconception that aspirin is found in the bark of the willow tree. A related compound called salicin does indeed occur in willow bark, thereby explaining the use of the bark as a medication since the time of Hippocrates. But salicin is very irritating to the stomach, a problem that prompted the Bayer company to look for an alternative. One of its chemists, Felix Hoffmann, synthesized acetylsalicylic acid in 1898 and found it to be a great improvement over other salicylates. A triumph of chemistry over nature!</p> Fri, 04 Jun 2021 20:27:32 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8756 at /oss /oss/channels/news/forbes-dr-schwarcz-comments-whether-natural-products-can-protect-us-mosquitos-west-nil <p>Almost 40,000 people in the United States developed West Nile virus last year and 1,549 died because of it. Compare that to 1999, the first year the disease was seen in North America, when only 62 people were reported infected.</p> Fri, 19 Jul 2013 21:50:31 +0000 emily.shore@mcgill.ca 1191 at /oss