--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A few atoms added here, subtracted there…" description: "\"A few atoms added here, subtracted there, is all it takes to make the difference between male and female sex characteristics, between a harmless molecu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/763/roald-hoffmann-40963_atoms_a-few-atoms-added-here-subtracted-there_1625131.jpg" --- # A few atoms added here, subtracted there, is all it takes… ![“A few atoms added here, subtracted there, is all it takes to make the difference between male and female sex characteristics, between a harmless molecule and a deadly addictive one.” quote by Roald Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/763/roald-hoffmann-40963_atoms_a-few-atoms-added-here-subtracted-there_1625131.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/763/roald-hoffmann-40963_atoms_a-few-atoms-added-here-subtracted-there_1625131.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/763/roald-hoffmann-40963_atoms_a-few-atoms-added-here-subtracted-there_1625131.jpg) > “A few atoms added here, subtracted there, is all it takes to make the difference between male and female sex characteristics, between a harmless molecule and a deadly addictive one.” [Roald Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-hoffmann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Small molecular changes can cause huge biological effects, from sex traits to drug addiction. **In simple terms:** Tiny changes cause big differences. Key Takeaway Consider molecular impact on health. Themes biology chemistry gender addiction Mood thoughtful analytical Type scientific educational When to use this quote - drug design - gender studies - public health policy - risk assessment Key Concepts Molecular biology pharmacology genetics Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance molecular insight with environmental influences? - What ethical issues arise from manipulating such differences? A Different Perspective Complex traits involve many interacting factors beyond single molecules. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) [Atoms Added](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms-added-325318/) [Characteristics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characteristics/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female/) [Female Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female-sex-325317/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Harmless Molecule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harmless-molecule-325316/) [Males](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/males/) [Molecule Deadly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/molecule-deadly-325315/) [Molecules](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/molecules/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Sex Characteristics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex-characteristics-325314/) ## Related quotes > [The female sex has no greater fan than I, and I have the bills to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-jay-lerner/the-female-sex-has-no-greater-fan-than-i-and-i-have-the-bills-to/) [Alan Jay Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-jay-lerner/) > [The female sex have long been the acknowledged possessors of a sort of mental quickness and intellectual acumen, or rather sharpness of vision, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-female-sex-have-long-been-the-acknowledged-possessors-of-a-sort/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I arrived at the conviction that we should, more easily and more thoroughly than we now do or ever have done, understand the nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/i-arrived-at-the-conviction-that-we-should-more-easily-and-more/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [The right of education of the female sex, as it is in a manner everywhere neglected, so it ought to be generally lamented. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-woolley/the-right-of-education-of-the-female-sex-as-it-is-in-a-manner/) [Hannah Woolley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-woolley/) > [The clitoris is the female sex organ, and the fact that we aren't told that when we were small children is devastating. We grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-dodson/the-clitoris-is-the-female-sex-organ-and-the-fact-that-we-aren-t-told/) [Betty Dodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-dodson/) > [“She was, in short, melted by his distress, as so often happens with the female sex. Poets have frequently commented on this. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/she-was-in-short-melted-by-his-distress-as-so-often-happens-with-the/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [It doesn't seem that the female brain is organized for fetishes. I suspect it has to do with our animal backgrounds. 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The life makers. It must be amazing to have a body that can carry an entire creature inside.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/i-admire-the-female-sex-the-life-makers-it-must-be-amazing-to-have-a/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [The mysteries of the female sex! We men can never hope to fathom your depths, but only try not to drown in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-mysteries-of-the-female-sex-we-men-can-never-hope-to-fathom-your/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“No matter what the Bible says—and I'm not a fundamentalist—I just don't think that men were the first. I don't think that Eve was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/no-matter-what-the-bible-says-and-i-m-not-a-fundamentalist-i-just-don/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [I never feel like I am "using" a voice, rather I am listening to a voice and recording it as faithfully as it comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micheline-aharonian-marcom/i-never-feel-like-i-am-using-a-voice-rather-i-am-listening-to-a-voice/) [Micheline Aharonian Marcom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micheline-aharonian-marcom/) ## More by Roald Hoffmann > [One day I discovered that one could get the barrier to internal rotation in ethane approximately right using this method. This was the beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-hoffmann/one-day-i-discovered-that-one-could-get-the-barrier-to-internal/) [Roald Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-hoffmann/) > [Alan Rocke's Image and Reality does so many things vividly and convincingly: it shows how visual images led chemistry step by step to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-hoffmann/alan-rocke-s-image-and-reality-does-so-many-things-vividly-and/) [Roald Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-hoffmann/) > [Knowing without seeing is at the heart of chemistry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-hoffmann/knowing-without-seeing-is-at-the-heart-of-chemistry/) [Roald Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-hoffmann/) > [Not every collision, not every punctilious trajectory by which billiard-ball complexes arrive at their calculable meeting places lead to reaction. ... Men (and women)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-hoffmann/not-every-collision-not-every-punctilious-trajectory-by-which/) [Roald Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-hoffmann/) > [I came to a happy Jewish family in dark days in Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-hoffmann/i-came-to-a-happy-jewish-family-in-dark-days-in-europe/) [Roald Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-hoffmann/) > [From a chemist's point of view, the surface or interior of a star…is boring—there are no molecules there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-hoffmann/from-a-chemist-s-point-of-view-the-surface-or-interior-of-a-star-is/) [Roald Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-hoffmann/) > [I learned English, my sixth language at this point, quite quickly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-hoffmann/i-learned-english-my-sixth-language-at-this-point-quite-quickly/) [Roald Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-hoffmann/) > [I am a teacher, and I am proud of it. At Cornell University I have taught primarily undergraduates, and indeed almost every year since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-hoffmann/i-am-a-teacher-and-i-am-proud-of-it-at-cornell-university-i-have/) [Roald Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-hoffmann/) > [Our part of Poland was under Russian occupation from 1939-1941.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-hoffmann/our-part-of-poland-was-under-russian-occupation-from-1939-1941/) [Roald Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-hoffmann/) [Explore all 10 Roald Hoffmann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-hoffmann/) ## More Atoms quotes > [If the polymer chain assumes a helicoidal conformation in the crystalline state, and if it does not contain asymmetric carbon atoms, it can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giulio-natta/if-the-polymer-chain-assumes-a-helicoidal-conformation-in-the/) [Giulio Natta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giulio-natta/) > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A monkey is unaware that atoms exist. 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One world or none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-chase/traditional-nationalism-cannot-survive-the-fissioning-of-the-atom-one/) [Stuart Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-chase/) > [I am not sure why, but I have been obsessed by the Atom Bomb ever since it first happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanford-wilson/i-am-not-sure-why-but-i-have-been-obsessed-by-the-atom-bomb-ever/) [Lanford Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanford-wilson/) > [History is the short trudge from Adam to atom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-is-the-short-trudge-from-adam-to-atom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The dogma of the impossibility of determining the atomic constitution of substances, which until recently was advocated with such fervor by the most able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-korner/the-dogma-of-the-impossibility-of-determining-the-atomic-constitution/) [Wilhelm Korner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-korner/) > [I have never seen what to me seemed an atom of proof that there is a future life. 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