In 1940, Karl Paul Link's laboratory identified and synthesised dicoumarol, the anticoagulant compound responsible for bleeding in cattle that had eaten mouldy sweet clover. Dicoumarol became the prototype of the 4-hydroxycoumarin anticoagulants. Its discovery directly led to warfarin.

Dicoumarol's origin story is unusually rich for poetry: sweetness turns toxic, rural loss becomes chemical insight, and poison becomes medicine. This illustrates a recurring artistic theme that danger and healing can share the same root, inspiring poets to explore dualities.