Endangered plants inspire efforts to revive lost scents.

Conservationists, perfumers and biotech firms are collaborating to recreate or preserve scents from endangered and extinct plants, and some partnerships are directing funds to conservation. Techniques range from working with herbarium specimens and DNA traces to lab-grown molecules that mimic rare natural aromas.

Conservationists, perfumers and biotech engineers are working together to capture and recreate scents from endangered and extinct plants. The Red List Project has reached out to the fragrance industry since 2018 to draw attention to at-risk species used for aroma. Companies and craft perfumers have partnered with conservationists to develop new fragrances and direct some proceeds toward protection. Separately, startups are using DNA and cell-based techniques to reproduce aroma molecules more quickly and at lower cost. Key points: - The Red List Project (led by Peggy Fiedler and Vanessa Handley) began appealing to fragrance companies in 2018 and later partnered with the French house MANE; MANE developed three scents based on plants the group suggested and provided donations and a share of sales to support conservation. - In 2022, the American perfumer Blocki worked with the Red List Project to reimagine a vintage Brazilian Lily scent; the original formula is lost and the plant is classified as endangered in Brazil, preventing harvest. - Future Society, founded in 2023, used DNA analysis of preserved extinct plants at Harvard’s Gray Herbarium to create a collection called Scent Surrection; fragrance firms including Givaudan helped formulate those fragrances. - The biotech company Debut in San Diego uses cell recoding and A.I. to produce lab-grown aroma molecules such as vetiver and orris, aiming to shorten production time and lower costs compared with traditional methods. - Participants note that recreated scents often rely on relatives, DNA traces or creative interpretation rather than exact restorations, and that lab-made molecules could reduce pressure on wild plant populations (for example, traditional rose oil production requires very large numbers of petals). Summary: These efforts connect fragrance makers, conservation groups and biotech to preserve olfactory heritage and raise funds for plant protection. Projects vary in approach and in how closely a recreated scent matches the original, and some combine fundraising with public storytelling about plant loss. Undetermined at this time.