Epic Quest Bio The case files
Case No. 78 · have you seen this molecule?

Lutein

the yellow in egg yolks

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

Lutein, front view, against a height chart in nanometers
FRONT
Lutein, side view
SIDE · CID 5281243

The suspect, from its real atomic coordinates. Drag to turn it. Height chart in nanometers, ruled every 0.1 nm. A hen’s egg is about nineteen million times taller.

Rap sheet

Answers to
Lutein, from the Latin for “yellow.” Not a nickname.
Height
3.0 nm, standing up straight.
Weight
0.94 zeptograms
Build
Long and slim, a ring at each end, an OH on each ring.
Color
Yellow. Orange-red in a crowd.
Origins
Hens can’t make it. It comes in their feed; marigold petals make the yolks yellower.
Associates
Zeaxanthin, a near twin with one double bond moved. Together they color the yellow spot at the back of your eye.
Last seen
A 5 mL tube marked YOLK in the fridge at HQ.
110,000,000,000,000,000

of them in one egg yolk, on average.
Hens vary. You’ve never seen one.

The poster on the street

The wanted poster for Lutein

This is the photocopied wanted poster for Lutein, No. 78. 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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