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  • Title: Silencing nature's narcotics: metabolic engineering of the opium poppy.
    Author: Page JE.
    Journal: Trends Biotechnol; 2005 Jul; 23(7):331-3. PubMed ID: 15978315.
    Abstract:
    The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum L., and its narcotic and analgesic alkaloids, have an ancient history of use (and abuse) by humankind. A recent article by Allen and co-workers describes the metabolic engineering of morphine biosynthesis to block morphine formation and accumulate a potentially valuable pathway intermediate, (S)-reticuline. This work highlights the potential for modifying the production of pharmaceuticals in plants, but also raises questions about the complex regulation of biosynthetic pathways.
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