Yeasts to take on the opium farmers

摘要

Severe pain? Reach for the yeast. Genetically engineered yeasts can now produce a range of opiates, including morphine. With growing anxieties about supplies of opium poppies, it could be just what the doctor ordered. Many of the most widely used opiate painkillers can be produced only from opium poppies (Papaver somniferum). Some 50 per cent of the plants for these booming drugs are grown on the Australian island of Tasmania, so poor growing seasons can affect availability.