Koalgamine

Koalgamine is a fictional chemical compound used in science fiction and tabletop worldbuilding. It is not listed in real-world chemical databases.

In fiction, koalgamine is typically portrayed as a small, diffusible amine-based molecule that serves as a signaling or energy-transfer agent. Its exact structure varies by author, but it is often depicted as able to cross biological membranes easily and to be rapidly synthesized and degraded.

In many stories, koalgamine acts as a neuromodulator or intercellular messenger within microbial ecologies, colonies of engineered organisms, or swarms of autonomous devices. Some narratives treat it as essential to metabolism or as a currency of signaling capacity, while others use it to explain coordinated behavior in alien ecosystems.

Synthesis and availability are fictional concepts in koalgamine's context. In fictional settings, it can be produced by microbes, engineered organisms, or chemical synthesis in a lab, with narrative assumptions about safety, regulation, and accessibility. There is no real-world synthesis or regulatory status for a compound by this name.

Etymology and reception of the term vary across works. The name koalgamine is a constructed term used by different authors, with no standardized spelling or definition. The concept appears in worldbuilding discussions as a tool to explore ideas about biochemistry, signaling, and the ethics of synthetic biology in speculative fiction.