Chemistry is both a natural science and an unnatural science, unnatural in the sense that chemists have greatly extended the materials and transformations found in nature. Bioorganic chemistry shares this dichotomy. Bioorganic chemistry is the field that overlaps organic chemistry on the one side and biology on the other. This article describes a number of areas in which bioorganic chemistry has made major contributions over the 75 years during which the Journal of Chemical Education has been published; this article also discusses areas in which we can expect advances in the next 25 years. Work in the chemistry that interfaces with biology, bioorganic chemistry, is one of the most exciting areas of science, with great promise for the future.