The Formula

For anyone else that saw Heroes last night, I know you probably have the same question that I do. What was it, exactly, that was on the piece of paper that Hiro pulled out of his father's safe?



Well, the big honking molecule looked suspiciously familiar, so after a bit of googling, I found it: Maitotoxin, one of the toxins found in red tide. Notably, this is one of the largest non-protein non-polysaccharide molecules produced in nature. It's ridiculously toxic - the LD50 for mice is 50 nanograms per kilogram.



The other molecules are simpler. The bottom left is caffeine. The synthesis to the right of the caffeine seems to be the beginning of a preparation for a shikimic acid derivative, possibly of tamiflu or another similar antiviral drug. There are sodiums where there should not be sodiums, which bothers me.

Here's the whole picture for you (click to embiggen): maitotoxin in red, caffeine in blue, shikimic acid/antiviral synthesis in green.



I wonder how this will actually come into play in the show. There were virii last season, so the antiviral reference makes sense. Caffeine is likely in there because every pop-culture reference to molecules has to include it. But the maitotoxin? I suppose time (and the other half of the formula) will tell.