2588: Cyclopamine and Sonic Hedgehog Jan 14, 2022

In 1957 farmers in Idaho reported their lambs were born cycloptic. After over a decade, the chemical found corn lily when ingested by the pregnant ewes was shown to cause this, then named 'cyclopamine'. This chemical compound has many more medical effects than cyclopia, and is indeed significant for many cancer treatments. As humorous as the naming of a chemical compound after a Greek mythical monster, it's function in the body is to stop the sonic hedgehog signal during development. This name, as is perhaps more obvious, was named for the videogame character.