Discovery of the metabolism of monoterpenols: from plant chemical ecology to the biosynthesis of anticancer compounds

Plants emit volatile compounds to exchange information with other organisms and attract insects for pollination.  Some of these volatile compounds are further metabolized in
the plant to synthesize defense molecules preventing insect damage. Our work shows how parallel pathways emerged from monoterpenols in different plant species, gaining complexity in a stepwise manner to sometimes lead to very complex molecules used as drugs to treat human diseases