Scientists at Stanford University have used genetically modified yeast to produce the active ingredients in painkillers, Science magazine has reported.
The discovery creates the possibility of reducing the time for the production of painkillers from a year to a matter of days and a chance to slash manufacturing costs for a broad spectrum of ingredients in plant-based medications, according to the study.
After a decade of research, scientists found a way to reprogram the genetic machinery of baker's yeast to make the rapid-proliferating cells able to convert sugar into hydrocodone, the basis of morphine and other pain relievers.
Currently, pharmaceutical companies obtain their hydrocodone from specially licensed farms in Australia, Europe and elsewhere that extract the substance from opium poppies in a process that can take more than a year, the Stanford researchers point out.
"It makes something that now takes over a year in just a few days," study lead author Christina Smolke said.
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"It also makes it in an enclosed carefully controlled reactor, so it's not vulnerable to weather or pests or disease."
"This is only the beginning," said Smolke, an associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford.
"We can leverage the technology to go after a broad array of medicines, which are developed responsibly and distributed fairly."
More than five billion people, or 83 per cent of the global population, live in countries with little or no access to pain-relieving medications, according to the World Health Organisation.
