Why Does Caffeine Exist?

Thank you to Wondrium for Supporting PBS. For more information and a trial please go to Check out PBS Terra! Today, billions of people around the world start their day with caffeine. But how and why did the ability to produce this molecule independently evolve in multiple, distantly-related lineages of flowering plants, again and again? ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to ***** Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios Super special thanks to the following Patreon patrons for helping make Eons possible: Kyle Brown, Stephen Patterson, Mark Foster, Karen Farrell, Trevor Long, Raphael Haase, daniel blankstein, Roberto Adrian Ramirez Flores, Jason Rostoker, Jonathan Rust, Avery Sanford, Mary Tevington, Bart & Elke van Iersel - De Jong, William Craig II, Tracey, James Dowling-Healey, Irene Wood, Derek Helling, WilCatRhC