In a feat that some say is comparable in significance to engineering yeast to produce the anti-malarial drug artemisinin — the poster child of synthetic biology — engineers at Stanford Univ. have reconstructed in yeast the entire biosynthetic pathway found in the poppy plant for producing opioid molecules.
▲ Stanford bioengineers have created a biosynthetic pathway consisting of genes from several different organisms, including opium poppy, Iranian poppy, California poppy, goldthread, bacteria, and rat, and inserted it into yeast to produce morphine from sugar. Image courtesy of Stephanie Galanie, Smolke Lab, Stanford Univ.
“This is one of the most complicated biosynthetic pathways that has been engineered into yeast to date, and as such represents a technical milestone for the field,” says Christina Smolke, an associate professor of bio-engineering at Stanford Univ. “It also highlights the potential of using yeast as a chassis for bio-based production of many complex chemicals and materials.”
The genetic machinery housed within poppy plants naturally...
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