Biotech start-up Arcaea is taking floral fragrances back to the past, with a latest range of scents based on extinct flowers.

Its latest brand, Future Society, uses sequenced DNA from extinct flowers as inspiration for these formulations. That’s because this technology makes it possible to grasp what scent molecules these flowers can have once produced. 

Once sourced, this data was then shared with perfumers including Daniela Andrie and Olivia Jan, each at Givaudan, and Jérome Epinette of Robertet, who created Future Society’s Scent Surrection Collection. 

“Fragrance has all the time been rooted in powerful storytelling and sensory experiences. We’re excited to point out how biology can create latest stories and product experiences. Science is about greater than clinical studies, it also represents latest creative tools,” said Jasmina Aganovic, chief executive officer of Arcaea. 

Launching with six scents, Future Society’s full-sized fragrances can be found now on its website and can roll out on Oct. 16 on nordstrom.com and in 20 Nordstrom doors. Each 50ml fragrance is priced at $98.

Grassland Opera, formulated by Jan, is predicated on the orbexilum stipulatum, last seen in 2018 in North American Plains. It became extinct because of buffalo migration, in line with Arcaea; Reclaimed Flame, formulated by Andriere, is inspired by the leucadendron grandiflorum, last spotted in 1960 in South Africa, but worn out by wildfires; Solar Cover, formulated by Epinette, takes inspiration from hibiscadelphus wilderianus, last recorded on Hawaii’s southern slope in 1912; Invisible Woods, formulated by Andriere, is predicated on the wendlandia angustifolia, last seen within the India Western Mountains in 1917; Floating Forest, formulated by Epinette, is concentrated on the shorea cuspidata, last recorded in Borneo in 1998, and Haunted Rose, based on the Macrostylis villosa subspecies one and two and likewise formulated by Epinette, was last seen in South Africa in 1960.

“Each of those fragrances will transport you to a different time and place which might not be possible without the groundbreaking science,” Aganovic added. 

Arcaea raised $78 million in Series A Funding from investors including Chanel, Givaudan and Olaplex through the COVID-19 global pandemic, and earlier this yr launched its first ingredient technology, ScentARC, which is geared toward deodorant brands.

Designed to focus on specific underarm microbes, the patent-pending prebiotic technology shifts a user’s odor profile by selectively and naturally stopping production of odorous compounds without antimicrobials or masking smells.

Arcaea was incubated on the Ginkgo Bioworks platform, which is where the unique sequencing data for the extinct flowers was first generated.