Galantamine bulbs of "Galanthus nivalis" (common snowdrop) by the Bulgarian chemist D. Paskov and his team in 1956. The active ingredient was extracted, identified, and studied, in particular in relation to its acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-inhibiting properties. The first industrial process was developed in 1959. In addition to uses in Alzheimer's disease, galantamine has been used to treat myasthenia, myopathy, muscular dystrophy, and sensory and motor dysfunction associated with disorders of the central nervous system. In Homer's "Odyssey" the god Hermes gives Odysseus an herb with "a black root, but milklike flower" called "moly", which Hermes claims will make Odysseus immune to the
Chlamydomonas nivalis "Uredo nivalis". Over the next century, many researchers disputed over whether these organisms were lichen, plants, alga, or animal. It was not until the early 20th century when researchers finally began to agree on the algal nature of the organism and gave its currently known name, "Chlamydomonas nivalis". In 1968 "C. nivalis" was officially recognized as a collective taxon. Unfortunately, due to the lack of sequencing techniques, reliance on visually examining similarly looking snow alga, and complicated life cycle of this species, errors continued to be made in classifying this and other species of snow algae. Today, "C. nivalis" has