Epic Quest Bio The case files
Case No. 70 · have you seen this molecule?

Glycyrrhizin

the sweet in licorice root

File sealed

The detectives are still writing this one up. The poster and the facts are below; the film and the interrogation room open soon.

Booking photographs

Glycyrrhizin, front view, against a height chart in nanometers
FRONT
Glycyrrhizin, side view
SIDE · CID 14982

The suspect, from its real atomic coordinates. Drag to turn it. Height chart in nanometers, ruled every 0.1 nm. A licorice plant is about five hundred million times taller.

Rap sheet

Answers to
Glycyrrhizic acid, formally.
Height
2.1 nm, standing on end.
Weight
1.4 zeptograms
Build
A stiff five-ring body wearing two sugar acids.
Taste
30 to 50 times sweeter than sugar, depending who’s counting.
Hours
Arrives late. Leaves later.
Origins
The root of a bean-family plant.
Known for
Its plant’s name, Greek for “sweet root.” “Licorice” is the same word, worn smooth.
Associates
Anise oil, which stands in for licorice in a lot of licorice candy.
Last seen
A 5 mL tube marked LICORICE in the fridge at HQ.
20,000,000,000,000,000,000

of them in one gram of dried licorice root, give or take.
Roots vary. You’ve never seen one.

The poster on the street

The wanted poster for Glycyrrhizin

This is the photocopied wanted poster for Glycyrrhizin, No. 70. They were made for noticeboards around Boston, Cambridge and the rest of the east coast.

Found one? Scan its QR code with your phone. If you're a signed-in player, the sighting goes on your record with +1 XP.

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