In the early 1900s, scientists were just beginning to understand the diversity and importance of steroids—a group of molecules made in the body that includes the sex hormones (progesterone, estrogens, and testosterone) and the hormones involved in promoting inflammation (cortisol). In addition to natural hormones, steroids can also be used as therapeutic drugs. But at the time, steroids had to be isolated from animal sources to be used as drugs, which was an expensive and low-yield process. During his career as a chemist, Percy Julian discovered a method for synthesizing these unique molecules from abundant plant sources, like soybeans, enabling…
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