Opium poppy’s genes may lead to cheaper drugs

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/03/2010 (6035 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALGARY — Scientists at the University of Calgary announced Sunday they have unlocked one of the genetic secrets of the opium poppy — a discovery that may open the door to cheaper and more readily available pain relief.

Biological sciences professor Peter Facchini said they have traced the unique genes that allow the opium poppy to make codeine and morphine.

“The enzymes encoded by these two genes have eluded plant biochemists for a half-century,” said Facchini in an interview.

“In finding not only the enzymes 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.”

The 46-year-old Toronto-born scientist has been researching the opium poppy for close to two decades and, with the help of researcher Jillian Hagel, has been trying to specifically unlock the gene secrets for two years.

Hagel did much of the legwork, he said.

Using high-tech scanning equipment, she sorted through up to 23,000 different genes contained on one tiny slide.

More than a year ago, on Feb. 4, 2009, she ultimately located a gene called codeine /O/-dementhylase, which produces the plant enzyme that converts codeine into morphine. “It was finding the needle in a haystack,” said Facchini.

Since then, they have been busy checking and expanding on their work, which was published Sunday in the online edition of Nature Chemical Biology.

Facchini has filed a patent on the technology. He says the applications could have an enormous impact on the business of painkillers in Canada.

Codeine is one of the most commonly used painkillers in the world. In Canada consumers spend more than $100 million a year on codeine-containing pharmaceutical products.

Canadians are among the world’s top per capita consumers of the drug, but must have it imported from countries like France and Australia, said Facchini.

He said the big change could be on the production side. “Our discovery now makes it possible to use micro-organisms to produce opiate drugs and other important pharmaceuticals,” he said.

— The Canadian Press