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posted by LaminatorX on Saturday August 15 2015, @02:50PM   Printer-friendly
from the value-added dept.

Back in May, UC Berkeley scientists reported using genetically modified yeast to "brew" morphine. Now Stanford University scientists have created strains of yeast that can make other opiate painkillers:

A strain of yeast engineered in a lab was able to transform sugar into a pain-killing drug — called hydrocodone — for the first time. And a second strain was able to produce thebaine, an opiate precursor that drug companies use to make oxycodone. The findings, published in Science, could completely change the way drug companies make pain-relieving medicine. Unfortunately, it may also open the door to less positive outcomes, like "home-brewed" heroin.

[...] In the short term, yeast-made opiates might lead to cheaper drugs. But the true excitement is farther down the road: scientists may be able to use this technology to make more effective pain-killers. "We're not just limited to what happens in nature or what the poppies make," Smolke says. "We can begin to modify these compounds in ways that will, for example, reduce the negative side effects that are associated with these medicines, but still keep the pain relieving properties." The two yeast strains aren't anywhere near ready for commercial use. Right now, they make such small quantities of drugs that it would take about 4,400 gallons of engineered yeast to make a single dose of standard pain-relieving medicine. So the next step for researchers is boosting the drug yields — which could take years. And for once, that might actually be a good thing; health officials and scientists will need that time to figure out how to keep these strains from being used to fuel the illegal drug market.

[More after the break.]

Creating a plan that encourages this line of research while also preventing the illicit use of these yeast strains "is critical," says John Dueber, a bioengineer at the University of California-Berkeley who didn't work on this study, but who has been working on yeast-made opiates. Thomas Binz, head of Biological Safety and Human Genetics in Switzerland's Federal Office of Public Health, agrees. "All facilities or laboratories that want to produce such strains will have to be known to the government," he says, specifying that these are his personal opinions. Binz also thinks that an oversight system for genetically modified organisms or particular DNA sequences will have to be created "to prevent theft." Finally, scientists will have to come up with ways to make it harder for illegal users to produce the strains sustainably.

[...] The Stanford researchers acknowledge that their strains could be used to make illegal drugs in the paper; they want to work with outside experts to limit the risk. That said, Smolke doesn't think that risk is very big — at least not right now. In a separate study, her team showed that the strains can't make opioid compounds under home-brew conditions. In addition, because the laboratory conditions that are needed to make the technique work are so highly specialized, Smolke thinks that even strains that can make more drugs won't be much use to home-brewers. [...] A meeting of the International Expert Group of Biosafety and Biosecurity Regulations is set to take place later this month in Berlin, Binz says. "Progress on opiate synthesis in yeast, including built-in security features, will be scheduled on the next meeting."

Abstract, Stanford Report, and Smithsonian Magazine.


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  • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Saturday August 15 2015, @11:42PM

    by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Saturday August 15 2015, @11:42PM (#223389)

    Because anything that can have even so much as an indirect effect on others (such as health problems from eating too much junk food, or drug addiction) must be heavily regulated or outright banned. You think you have a fundamental right to control your own body? Think again. Enjoy your 'freedom'.

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