In 2020, German scientists published research in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry indicating that the pungent smell can be attributed to a rare amino acid called ethionine.

Acute pancreatitis in various stages of severity has been produced experimentally by administration of ethionine. 8 To our knowledge this is the only other drug or chemical, exclusive of alcohol ...

ethionine-supplemented diet. In each of these animal models, severe necrotizing pancreatitis is induced. Mild pancreatitis with very little necrosis can be induced by obstructing the rat-common ...

Such a mechanism could account also for the carcinogenic effects of radiation and of remotely acting agents, such as the azo-dyes, ethionine, etc., which may give rise to alkyl radicals in the body.