Opium Poppy's Genes Finally Revealed

Opium crop from the Malwa region of India. Credit: Wikimedia

From Cosmos/AFP:

PARIS: Researchers have discovered the genes that allow the opium poppy to make codeine and morphine, which could lead to genetically engineered plants or microorganisms generating the painkillers.

Codeine is one of the most widely prescribed painkillers in the world, the researchers said. Unlike morphine, codeine cannot be easily converted to heroin.

"The enzymes encoded by these two genes have eluded plant biochemists for a half-century," said Peter Facchini, from the University of Calgary in Canada and co-author of the paper.

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