Stanford Scientists Suggests Narcotic Drugs Can Be Derived From Yeast

 

Up until now, opioid drugs have been derived solely from the opium plant, however Stanford Laboratory is one of the few labs where researchers have been attempting to produce yest-based alternatives. The work being done is closely monitored by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to New York Times.

Advocates of the advancing field of bio-engineering suggests the field promises to make the creation of important chemicals, in this instance painkillers and cough suppressants, which will be less expensive and more predictable opposed to using the opium plant.

However, some experts believe the technology will be more useful for drug traffickers than for pharmaceutical companies. Pharmaceutical companies which legitimately produce drugs obtain their supply from legal poppy fields in areas such as Turkey, India, and Australia.

For now, scientists and law enforcement officials have agreed that it will be years before heroin can be grown into yeast. The new Stanford strain would need be at least 100,000 times as efficient in order to equate to the yield of poppies. It would take 4,4000 gallons of yeast to produce the amount of hydrocodone in a single Vicodin tablet, according to Christina D. Smolke, leader of Stanford’s bioengineering team.

An FBI spokesperson stated that the agency is aware of the potential work similar to Dr. Smolke’s to be exploited by criminals, however that will be of concern only when the technology used has advanced enough to be ready for commercial use.

Dr. Smolke’s strains have received much criticism and has raised concerns, but she defended her work by saying that millions of cancer patients, accident victims, and others in pain worldwide have had no access to pain relief. Experts in palliative care agree that Smolke’s statement is mostly true due to governments and doctors being afraid of creating drug addicts, not because the drugs are expensive or difficult to make.
What do you think of this new research?

 

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The post Stanford Scientists Suggests Narcotic Drugs Can Be Derived From Yeast appeared first on Harbor Village Florida.

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