For centuries, agarwood has been coaxed from wounded trees as a fragrant testament to nature's capacity for transformation under stress. Now, researchers at Hainan University have found that the difference between an ordinary tree and an exceptional one may not lie in the genes themselves, but in how those genes are held in readiness — a molecular posture of preparation called epigenetic priming. The elite 'Shuxinyou' cultivar, it turns out, does not simply respond to injury better; it has been waiting, at the cellular level, to do so all along.