New paper demonstrates most advanced example of engineering integrated systems for biosynthesis
A new paper published today in the journal Nature describes the first successful microbial biosynthesis of the tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine and scopolamine, a class of neuromuscular blockers naturally found in plants in the nightshade family…
The Drug Supply Chain Is Broken. A New Breakthrough Paves The Way For On-Demand Plant-Based Medicine
When Covid hit and hospitals started reporting shortages of hydroxychloroquine and other medicines vital to patients with conditions like malaria, lupus, asthma, and COPD, it became clear that our drug supply chain was broken…
Engineered Yeast Produce Hyoscyamine and Scopolamine
Successful production of medicinal compounds from plants depends on weather and growing seasons, potentially making supply chains vulnerable to uncontrollable forces. One way around such challenges is to use microorganisms as factories to make the compounds instead…
Revealed: A Clearer View of How General Anaesthetics Actually Work
You may never have heard of tropane alkaloids, but they are classed as essential medicines by the World Health Organization, for good reason since they are used in the treatment of a wide range of conditions, as synthetic biologist Christina Smolke explains…
A Milestone for Drug Manufacturing and Synthetic Biology: Stanford Research Published in Nature
It’s a momentous day for my research team at Stanford University. Today, we’ve announced a new paper published in Nature that describes the first successful microbial biosynthesis of the tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine and scopolamine…