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The BBC is reporting that...
Scientists have figured out how to brew morphine using the same kit used to make beer at home.
They have genetically modified yeast to perform the complicated chemistry needed to convert sugar to morphine.
Further...
If you brew beer at home, then you are relying on microscopic yeast that turns sugars into alcohol. But by borrowing DNA from plants, scientists have been genetically engineering yeasts that can perform each of the steps needed to convert sugar into morphine. One stage of the process - the production of an intermediary chemical called reticuline - had been a stumbling block.
That has been solved by a team at the University of California, Berkeley, and the scientists say it should now be possible to put all the steps together and "brew" morphine.
Dr John Dueber, a bioengineer at the university, said: "What you really want to do from a fermentation perspective is to be able to feed the yeast glucose, which is a cheap sugar source, and have the yeast do all the chemical steps required downstream to make your target therapeutic drug.
"With our study, all the steps have been described, and it's now a matter of linking them together and scaling up the process. It's not a trivial challenge, but it's doable."
Abstract from Nature.
[Editor's Comment: Original Submission]
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:31PM
Free range organic designer drugs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:25PM
It is fairly trivial to turn the morphine into heroin, I wonder how long before they have branded heroin on the streets of Philadelphia. Then again, as this isn't natural morphine the process may change. Cheap diactyl morphine for everyone! Woohoo!
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 2) by demonlapin on Tuesday May 26 2015, @09:32PM
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:38AM
I figured that was the case but I was not positive. I was not sure that the molecular structure was the same or if it was just close enough (say an extra hydrogen) so that they did not bother to rename it and called it morphine much like the analogues people create and have cooked up in China. As an aside, I would not recommend that in the US. The Analogue Act is a pretty mean beast and federal court is nothing nice and the penitentiaries are even worse I understand, I have never had the opportunity to personally experience either but that is not for lack of trying. :D
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @03:31AM
about the only variable would be the amount of 6-mono-acetyl morphine, or rather the ratio of 6-MAM to diacetyl. the acetylation process basically goes morphine -> 6-MAM -> diacetyl, and you want it to totally convert to diacetyl for the best high and best rush - 6-MAM is a pretty tame shot by comparison.
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Wednesday May 27 2015, @04:21AM
That is good to know. Thanks. Some lab equipment and some yeast, eh? Hmm...
"So long and thanks for all the fish."