Unlocking opium
19 Mar 2010 by Evoluted New Media
Genes that allow the opium poppy to make codeine and morphine have been discovered by researchers at the University of Calgary, and may have important implications for future painkillers
Genes that allow the opium poppy to make codeine and morphine have been discovered by researchers at the University of Calgary, and may have important implications for future painkillers
Post-doctoral scientist Jillian Hagel used cutting edge genomic techniques to sort through 23,000 genes to find codeine O-dementhylase (CODM), the plant enzyme that converts codeine into morphine.
Codeine is the most widely used opiate and one of the most commonly used painkillers. It is synthesised from morphine in the opium poppy or extracted directly from the plant. An enzyme in the liver converts codeine to the active analgesic morphine.
“We have found the missing pieces that were needed to understand how the opium poppy makes morphine,” Hagel said.
“With this discovery, we can potentially create plants that will stop production at codeine,” Peter Facchini, professor in the department of biological science, “In finding not only the enzyme but also the genes, we’ve made a major step forward. It’s equivalent to finding a gene involved in cancer or other genetic disorders.”
Facchini says his team are hoping to make the synthesis of codeine and other opiate drugs more efficient and economical. The discovery means it is possible to use microorganisms to produce opiate drugs and other important pharmaceuticals, and the team will be using the codeine gene in yeast or bacteria to produce pharmaceuticals.
“The evolution of these two genes in a single plant species has had such a huge impact of humanity over the past several thousand years,” Fancchini said, “Our discovery allows this unique genetic power to be harnessed in many important ways.”
