It has a sweet odor, readily recognised as the scent of new mown hay, and has been used in perfumes since 1882.

And one of the first things that happened was we started going around to fragrance companies asking for what they needed, because, of course, if you could calculate smell, you don t need chemists.

Karimova, a popstar and perfume designer princess who international investigators are probing for corrupt links to telecoms operators which won contracts in the country, was one of the few public figures in Uzbekistan well known beyond its borders.

They loaded all the gold (about 100 troy pounds or 122,000 pesos worth) and then picked through the silks, damasks, musks (used in perfume manufacture), spices, wines, and ship's supplies for what they could carry.

But for the last three years, I ve had what I consider to be the best job in the entire universe, which is to put my hobby which is, you know, fragrance and all the magnificent things plus a little bit of biophysics, a small amount of self taught chemistry at the service of something that actually works.