Indeed the affects of attempting to mimic natural chemical compounds always has unforeseen consequences. It is quite disconcerting in using medicine. I agree Polonous we depend on other people's inventions as opposed to our own abilities to derive the same information from our surroundings. We rely to much on everybody but ourselves. I also totally agree with a necessary balance between the two. We weigh business need and efficiency over our own personal well-being as a whole a majority of the time.
The whole medicine deal... if they are mimicking natural occurring things to produce synthetic medicine. Why not just provide the natural occurring chemical? ...Oh wait nobody profits off that. Your body can process a naturally occurring substance much more accurately than a synthetic substance made to mimic it more often than not. It's kind of like all of the preservatives and hormone enriched food that we eat in USA causes issues. Especially with the development process of the body, as you said. It not only affects us but the livestock that we consume. None of the livestock we eat can naturally reproduce anymore. It all has to be done by machine... sadly.
We may see it as a benefit because it can be processed on a very large scale to feed millions of people. However it negatively affects both sides, the consumer and the consumed. As smart and convenient as we claim all of this is. It has only been around for a very short period of time compared to Earth in the form we know it. We base everything on very short tests and profitability (in USA). We have genetically altered ourselves, the mammals we consume and a lot of the produce we consume as well. All in the name of chemicals and convenience. Most people don't even ask questions about it they just consume and keep doing it. A huge majority don't know how to grow their own food, go buy it at the grocery store. A huge majority couldn't raise a farm, go buy meat at the grocery store. I'm not saying I could, it's just kind of strange in my eyes. I'm making steps to process everything myself ... even water. I live near a creek and have invested in a decent sized hand-cranked water filter. Call it crazy I just want to be more in touch with nature... as I type on a computer
. It's all about the balance. I'm trying to learn stuff like you posted original Polonus about plants you can use to heal yourself. I think it's all very interesting... technology and nature. Everything is wonderful in moderation!