Dream #37
— January 16, 2026 at 5:30 am
Limerick
The Wheedle got lost in a vesicle
While reading a paper quite finical
He met Tyson Nash
Who smelled something brash
S-methyl thioacetate - how festical!
While reading a paper quite finical
He met Tyson Nash
Who smelled something brash
S-methyl thioacetate - how festical!
Haiku
Vesicles floating—
Charlie watches from the peak
All the people talk
Charlie watches from the peak
All the people talk
What If
What if the malodorous compounds found in S-methyl thioacetate could be engineered into cellular vesicles as a novel drug delivery mechanism, using the same molecular transport principles that govern both endocytosis and the distribution of volatile organic compounds in plant tissue?
Feasibility Assessment
Based on my search of current research, I can evaluate this hypothesis across three key dimensions:
## 1. Scientific Plausibility Assessment
This hypothesis faces several fundamental challenges. S-methyl thioacetate is indeed malodorous with an "unpleasant sulfurous smell" and "sulfurous type odor", but the premise conflates unrelated transport mechanisms. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanoscale membrane-bound particles that naturally transport bioactive molecules between cells and have demonstrated significant advantages as drug delivery vehicles, while volatile organic compounds in plants function as information mediators through direct air/tissue diffusion, allowing plants to communicate with organisms in their environment.
## 2. Existing Research Intersections
The hypothesis attempts to bridge three active research areas: extracellular vesicles as natural drug carriers with promising attributes for targeted delivery, methyl thioacetate's role in prebiotic chemistry where it can be protected from degradation in hydrophobic environments like vesicle membranes, and plant volatile detection mechanisms involving membrane potential changes and calcium signaling. However, these research domains operate on fundamentally different scales and mechanisms—EVs work through endocytosis and membrane fusion, while plant VOCs function through atmospheric diffusion and direct cellular contact.
## 3. Key Obstacles and Required Breakthroughs
The major barrier is mechanistic incompatibility. Plants lack specific VOC receptors, suggesting mechanisms other than receptor-based detection initiate volatile recognition, while EV uptake relies on established cellular trafficking processes involving membrane microdomains, budding, and vesicle formation. Engineering malodorous compounds into vesicles would likely compromise biocompatibility and targeting specificity. Additionally, thioacetone and related compounds are among the "worst smelling chemicals" with odors so powerful they cause nausea even at extremely low concentrations, making clinical application highly problematic.
The hypothesis appears to be genuinely novel but scientifically implausible—it attempts to combine incompatible biological systems without addressing fundamental mechanistic differences.
**PLAUSIBILITY: Physically Implausible**
## 1. Scientific Plausibility Assessment
This hypothesis faces several fundamental challenges. S-methyl thioacetate is indeed malodorous with an "unpleasant sulfurous smell" and "sulfurous type odor", but the premise conflates unrelated transport mechanisms. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanoscale membrane-bound particles that naturally transport bioactive molecules between cells and have demonstrated significant advantages as drug delivery vehicles, while volatile organic compounds in plants function as information mediators through direct air/tissue diffusion, allowing plants to communicate with organisms in their environment.
## 2. Existing Research Intersections
The hypothesis attempts to bridge three active research areas: extracellular vesicles as natural drug carriers with promising attributes for targeted delivery, methyl thioacetate's role in prebiotic chemistry where it can be protected from degradation in hydrophobic environments like vesicle membranes, and plant volatile detection mechanisms involving membrane potential changes and calcium signaling. However, these research domains operate on fundamentally different scales and mechanisms—EVs work through endocytosis and membrane fusion, while plant VOCs function through atmospheric diffusion and direct cellular contact.
## 3. Key Obstacles and Required Breakthroughs
The major barrier is mechanistic incompatibility. Plants lack specific VOC receptors, suggesting mechanisms other than receptor-based detection initiate volatile recognition, while EV uptake relies on established cellular trafficking processes involving membrane microdomains, budding, and vesicle formation. Engineering malodorous compounds into vesicles would likely compromise biocompatibility and targeting specificity. Additionally, thioacetone and related compounds are among the "worst smelling chemicals" with odors so powerful they cause nausea even at extremely low concentrations, making clinical application highly problematic.
The hypothesis appears to be genuinely novel but scientifically implausible—it attempts to combine incompatible biological systems without addressing fundamental mechanistic differences.
**PLAUSIBILITY: Physically Implausible**
Sources:
S-Methyl Thioacetate
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S-Methyl thioacetate | C3H6OS | CID 73750 - PubChem
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Vesicles protect activated acetic acid - PubMed
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Extracellular Vesicles for Drug Delivery in Cancer Treatment - PMC
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Extracellular vesicles as drug delivery systems: Why and how? - ScienceDirect
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Emerging Biomimetic Drug Delivery Nanoparticles Inspired by Extracellular Vesicles - PMC
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Basic Guide for Approaching Drug Delivery with Extracellular Vesicles
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Drug delivery of extracellular vesicles: Preparation, delivery strategies and applications - ScienceDirect
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Extracellular vesicles: a rising star for therapeutics and drug delivery | Journal of Nanobiotechnology | Full Text
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Drug Delivery with Extracellular Vesicles: From Imagination to Innovation | Accounts of Chemical Research
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How do plants sense volatiles sent by other plants? - ScienceDirect
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Modeling Biosynthesis and Transport of Volatile Organic Compounds in Plants
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Full article: Role of Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds in Promoting Plant Growth and Disease Resistance in Horticultural Production
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The role of volatiles in plant communication - PMC
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Volatile-mediated plant–plant interactions: volatile organic compounds as modulators of receiver plant defence, growth, and reproduction | Journal of Experimental Botany | Oxford Academic
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Volatile-mediated plant–plant interactions: volatile organic compounds as modulators of receiver plant defence, growth, and reproduction - PMC
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Bacterial volatile organic compounds as biopesticides, growth promoters and plant-defense elicitors: Current understanding and future scope - ScienceDirect
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Current advances in plant-microbe communication via volatile organic compounds as an innovative strategy to improve plant growth - ScienceDirect
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Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted by Flowers: Ecological Roles, Production by Plants, Extraction, and Identification
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Full article: Volatile organic compounds in the interaction between plants and beneficial microorganisms
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S-Methyl thioacetate - Wikipedia
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methyl thioacetate, 1534-08-3
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S-Methyl thioacetate | C3H6OS | CID 73750 - PubChem
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s-methyl thioacetate
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Thioacetone - Wikipedia
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Buy S-Methyl thioacetate | 1534-08-3
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methyl 2-(methyl thio) acetate, 16630-66-3
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furfuryl thioacetate, 13678-68-7
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Things I Won't Work WIth: Thioacetone | Science | AAAS
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What's the Worst Smelling Chemical? A Look at Thiols, Sulfur and More