Feldon
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Brewers, its time to dust off the petri dishes.
Some researchers have just discovered a biological pathway whereby Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) can produce opiates such as morphine, codine etc.
Discovery sparks 'home-brew drugs' concern
Scientists have unlocked a pathway for producing opiates from genetically-engineered yeast, but fear the discovery could one day be a bonanza for criminals.
The team of US and Canadian scientists are calling on lawmakers to regulate the area of research to avoid abuse.
Other experts agree, saying anyone with basic skills could use such a yeast to churn out morphine, codeine and drugs using a simple home-brew beer kit.
The discovery, published in the scientific journal Nature Chemical Biology, comes on the heels of a study published last month in the journal PLOS ONE.
Together, the papers describe the 15 key steps towards bio-engineering yeast that would feed on sugar and exude opiates and other therapeutic drugs.
The goal is to provide cheaper and possibly less addictive painkillers from a dependable source, as compared to the poppy.
For centuries, morphine and other opioids have been the go-to drugs for pain relief. But their molecular structure is so complex, they are isolated or manufactured from compounds in plants. Chemists have never been able to produce them from off-the-shelf components.
The team of synthetic biologists inserted an enzyme gene from beets to coax yeast into converting tyrosine -- an amino acid easily derived from sugar -- into a compound called reticuline.
Reticuline is a molecular "hub", meaning it is the springboard for making morphine, codeine and oxycodone, as well as anti-spasmodic drugs like papaverine.
The team did not go on to make these drugs, but the process of going from reticuline to codeine and morphine in yeast is already known. What had been missing in the knowledge chain was getting from tyrosine to reticuline.
The discovery may be a boon in pharmaceutics, but it also "dramatically speeds up the clock for when home-brewing drugs could become a reality," the researchers caution.
"We're likely looking at a timeline of a couple of years, not a decade or more, when sugar-fed yeast could reliably produce a controlled substance," says the study's co-author John Dueber of the University of California, Berkeley.
more at http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/05/19/4238279.htm
and http://www.nature.com/news/drugs-regulate-home-brew-opiates-1.17563
Now, what aroma hops to use on a morphine lager?
Some researchers have just discovered a biological pathway whereby Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) can produce opiates such as morphine, codine etc.
Discovery sparks 'home-brew drugs' concern
Scientists have unlocked a pathway for producing opiates from genetically-engineered yeast, but fear the discovery could one day be a bonanza for criminals.
The team of US and Canadian scientists are calling on lawmakers to regulate the area of research to avoid abuse.
Other experts agree, saying anyone with basic skills could use such a yeast to churn out morphine, codeine and drugs using a simple home-brew beer kit.
The discovery, published in the scientific journal Nature Chemical Biology, comes on the heels of a study published last month in the journal PLOS ONE.
Together, the papers describe the 15 key steps towards bio-engineering yeast that would feed on sugar and exude opiates and other therapeutic drugs.
The goal is to provide cheaper and possibly less addictive painkillers from a dependable source, as compared to the poppy.
For centuries, morphine and other opioids have been the go-to drugs for pain relief. But their molecular structure is so complex, they are isolated or manufactured from compounds in plants. Chemists have never been able to produce them from off-the-shelf components.
The team of synthetic biologists inserted an enzyme gene from beets to coax yeast into converting tyrosine -- an amino acid easily derived from sugar -- into a compound called reticuline.
Reticuline is a molecular "hub", meaning it is the springboard for making morphine, codeine and oxycodone, as well as anti-spasmodic drugs like papaverine.
The team did not go on to make these drugs, but the process of going from reticuline to codeine and morphine in yeast is already known. What had been missing in the knowledge chain was getting from tyrosine to reticuline.
The discovery may be a boon in pharmaceutics, but it also "dramatically speeds up the clock for when home-brewing drugs could become a reality," the researchers caution.
"We're likely looking at a timeline of a couple of years, not a decade or more, when sugar-fed yeast could reliably produce a controlled substance," says the study's co-author John Dueber of the University of California, Berkeley.
more at http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/05/19/4238279.htm
and http://www.nature.com/news/drugs-regulate-home-brew-opiates-1.17563
Now, what aroma hops to use on a morphine lager?
