Industrial artThis white powder is 5-aminosalicylic acid, also...
Industrial art
This white powder is 5-aminosalicylic acid, also known as mesalazine, an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat inflammatory bowel disease. Lorenzo de Ferra, scientific director of Chemi SpA, a manufacturer of pharmaceutical ingredients, observed that the crystals settled in the reactor being used to make the drug molecule “in elegant shapes reminiscent of those of a white flower.” The similarity is heightened “by the stirrer that is seen in the center and resembles its stem.” De Ferra’s colleague took this photo after discharging the powder from a slurry of the drug molecule and its crystallization solvent. The combined effects of gravity and the reactor’s movements created the pattern you see here. —Alexandra Taylor
Submitted by Lorenzo de Ferra
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