There is no doubt that one of the biggest hassles for any farmer in the world is seeing relentless weeds smothering their seedlings and hungry bugs devouring their harvests like wildfire. An effective pesticide is therefore a near miraculous invention in the eyes of many farmers. It can save them time and energy, and most importantly, like a pair of polarized glasses, it keeps them from seeing certain “hassles”. This is why we humans are known to be visual animals i.e., we build our faith on what we see. However, something fishy is always lurking and hidden in sight, or in time as we shall see.

What makes a pesticide “visibly” effective? Highly toxic and lethal across generations and to multiple kinds of pests. In other words, an ideal weapon would be a magic shotgun that does not give any pests a chance.

How would this play out for the eternal enemy of every farmer — the tiny herbivorous crawlies? There are countless ways to annihilate insects, but not all produce the same visual result. In order to see an immediate, visceral result, some chemists figured out that we can attack an insect’s nervous system to instantly incapacitate it. This is how the famous “organophosphate” pesticides were born.

These chemicals work by inhibiting the universal neuromuscular enzyme acetylcholinesterase, causing the overstimulation of nerves and their subsequent exhaustion. Moreover, they are very potent in the sense that they can be absorbed through all surfaces on an insect body, meaning that there is near zero chance of escaping unharmed. If that sounds like something out of a horror movie to you, you would be correct.

Little did farmers know that these “magical” potions had evolved (or co-evolved) from some of the deadliest chemical weapons i.e. nerve agents used in wars and genocides. Unsurprisingly, mammals including humans use the same acetylcholinesterase enzyme in our nervous systems (although it is a bit different chemically due to the long history of divergent evolution). Therefore, organophosphates can also kill humans in a similar manner as we do to the tiny insects. For instance, the infamous and…

The author made this story available to Medium members only. Upgrade to instantly unlock this story plus other member-only benefits.

There is no doubt that one of the biggest hassles for any farmer in the world is seeing relentless weeds smothering their seedlings and hungry bugs devouring their harvests like wildfire. An effective pesticide is therefore a near miraculous invention in the eyes of many farmers. It can save them time and energy, and most importantly, like a pair of polarized glasses, it keeps them from seeing certain “hassles”. This is why we humans are known to be visual animals i.e., we build our faith on what we see. However, something fishy is always lurking and hidden in sight, or in time as we shall see.

What makes a pesticide “visibly” effective? Highly toxic and lethal across generations and to multiple kinds of pests. In other words, an ideal weapon would be a magic shotgun that does not give any pests a chance.

How would this play out for the eternal enemy of every farmer — the tiny herbivorous crawlies? There are countless ways to annihilate insects, but not all produce the same visual result. In order to see an immediate, visceral result, some chemists figured out that we can attack an insect’s nervous system to instantly incapacitate it. This is how the famous “organophosphate” pesticides were born.

These chemicals work by inhibiting the universal neuromuscular enzyme acetylcholinesterase, causing the overstimulation of nerves and their subsequent exhaustion. Moreover, they are very potent in the sense that they can be absorbed through all surfaces on an insect body, meaning that there is near zero chance of escaping unharmed. If that sounds like something out of a horror movie to you, you would be correct.

Little did farmers know that these “magical” potions had evolved (or co-evolved) from some of the deadliest chemical weapons i.e. nerve agents used in wars and genocides. Unsurprisingly, mammals including humans use the same acetylcholinesterase enzyme in our nervous systems (although it is a bit different chemically due to the long history of divergent evolution). Therefore, organophosphates can also kill humans in a similar manner as we do to the tiny insects. For instance, the infamous and…

The author made this story available to Medium members only. Upgrade to instantly unlock this story plus other member-only benefits.