The fragrance industry has been around for a long time, and currently, perfumes are incredibly complex and made up of natural and synthetic chemicals based on existing scents. According to McGill University, Chanel No. 5, a classic scent, was the first perfume developed using modern chemical principles and containing synthetics. And while synthetic chemicals comprise most scents, perfumists are limited to the same variation of notes to create their fragrances.

And yet, Future Society is a brand transforming the entire perfume industry by using extinct flowers’ genomes to create entirely new-to-the-modern-era scents. Scientists at Harvard University’s Herbaria were able to sequence the genetic codes of extinct flowers dating back to 1812, and, using the data, Future Society collaborated with perfumers to mix fragrance notes inspired by the scent molecules of the extinct flowers.