Diana's aim, however, is actually female empowerment, intending to gain the support of these influential women, believing that if Antigerone became publicly known, it would be reserved only for the men in power.Īfter a customer suffers an allergic reaction to one of Diana's products, the secret of the drug begins to emerge. When Francis finds out about the spas, he erroneously assumes that Diana's motive is profit. While Francis uses it only on himself and his immediate family (without their knowledge), Diana founds a cosmetic spa, and builds up a clientele of some of the most powerful women in England, giving them low doses of Antigerone, preserving their beauty and youth. She and Francis separately manage to extract from the lichen a new drug, dubbed Antigerone, which slows down the body's ageing process. The two central characters are Diana Brackley and Francis Saxover, two biochemists who run parallel investigations into the properties of a specific species of lichen after Diana notices that a trace of the specimen prevents some milk turning sour.

Wyndham speculates how society would deal with this prospect. The plot concerns a young female biochemist who discovers that a chemical extracted from an unusual strain of lichen can be used to slow down the ageing process, enabling people to live to around 200–300 years.

Trouble with Lichen (published 1960) is a science fiction novel by British writer John Wyndham.

John wyndham the trouble with lichen