You are right, bigfatsiron. We are still using plant extracts....

You are right, bigfatsiron. We are still using plant extracts. At the end of the day, evolis is an organic product.

The newly identified compounds are biochemical modifications of the original organic compounds. These modifications are called monoterpenoids. As I said, I do not know how using these modified compounds affect production volumes.

Wikipedia on monoterpenes/monoterpenoids:

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoterpene

Maybe someone with a background in chemistry can shed a light?

Regardless, I think it is still relevant as there are existing efforts to synthesise monoterpenes and their derivates.

See:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27315341

Or refer to this article in Nature:
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15526

On a more speculative side, I am still thinking that the Kikkoman connection might come in handy at some point.
http://biochemifa.kikkoman.co.jp/e/

Source: Cellmid (from 2015)