
Modified yeast produce opiates from sugar - runesoerensen
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6249/677.full
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dekhn
This is an absurd technical accomplishment. Identifying and cloning 21 genes
on its own is a ton of work, but doing so in a way that replicates a synthetic
pathway is amazing. Hats off to the scientists who managed to get this to
work.

~~~
dbbolton
Six or so years ago, a friend of mine and I were talking about how the US had
destroyed poppy fields in Afghanistan on a large scale (I think to block
Taliban funding or something) despite the WHO listing morphine as a critical
drug in short supply.

Being enterprising sophomore Bio students who had a basic grasp on cellular
machinery, we then somehow spun that story into the idea of mass-producing
plant alkaloids from rapidly reproducing microbes (except we imagined bacteria
rather than fungi). We always had "crazy" discussions like that and I never
gave it a second thought afterward.

What's really funny to me is what a pipe dream (no pun intended) it seemed
like at the time-- maybe the beginning of a bad sci-fi story at best. But here
we are today and it's so incredible to me that this team was able to bring
that idea to life.

Now I'm left wondering what other crazy discussions will turn into practical
real-world applications in the next six years.

~~~
dekhn
You're not the only person who has thought along those lines. I've seen
multiple proposals to mass-produce plant alkaloids using microbes (bacteria or
yeast). Very few people have the skills required to do this; you have to be an
expert in chemistry, as well as molecular biology, and also be patient and
good at running experiments and getting funded. And you've probably also have
to be lucky in choosing what synthesis to work on.

This falls under the "Synthetic Biology" domain:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology)
is a decent introduction to the concepts.

See also the iGEM competition:
[https://www.igem.org/Main_Page](https://www.igem.org/Main_Page) the students
who work on those projects often come up with really clever ideas and
implementations, which has the potential to push the field along faster than
if it was just academically funded professors and some startups.

~~~
dbbolton
I'm well aware that ideas are a dime a dozen and that there is no realistic
way that I could have brought that idea to life.

I wasn't trying to make a "I had that idea first! I could have made millions!"
type of comment. My point was just how wild it is that it seemed to
unrealistic at the time but now it's reality. I also thought it was an
interesting coincidence that we happened to think of the same alkaloid that
this project created.

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twerp
I have a friend who suffered from 'auto-brewery syndrome' last year. From
wikipedia:

 _Auto-brewery syndrome, also known as gut fermentation syndrome, is a rare
medical condition in which intoxicating quantities of ethanol are produced
through endogenous fermentation within the digestive system. One
gastrointestinal organism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a type of yeast, has been
identified as a pathogen for this condition._

Now imagine an auto-brewery syndrome with this modified yeast...

~~~
Terr_
Sounds like a prelude to a pseudo-zombie apocalypse, filled with junkies
looking for their fix.

~~~
stickfigure
...which they would receive by drinking any sugary liquid.

~~~
Terr_
...until it _stops being enough_ , either due to gradual tolerance making them
seek a stronger and stronger fixes, or due to something that disrupts
production by the yeast-culture.

~~~
baldeagle
At which point they will seek the most sugary liquid ever.... The human brain.

~~~
Terr_
Too much sugar in brains, you say...

> How should I know? I'm a dentist. But here's what I do know: If a tooth is
> bad, you PULL IT. Yep, mad brain's got to come out, boy!

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JHaeJyLw2o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JHaeJyLw2o)

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sosuke
Sigh, I'm a cynic, this is an amazing accomplishment and all I could do was
think that yeast will now be considered a controlled substance that I have to
give my drivers license to buy like Sudafed.

Keep doing excellent work.

~~~
malingo
Poppy seeds are held behind the customer-service counter at some grocery
stores [1]. They don't make you hand over your drivers license though.

[1] [http://www.radioiowa.com/2008/01/10/store-puts-poppy-
seeds-b...](http://www.radioiowa.com/2008/01/10/store-puts-poppy-seeds-behind-
counter-after-thefts/)

~~~
aaron695
From the article this was only because they were being stolen, if anything I
think that's less regulatory, even though we know addicts are using them
stores are free to do what they want.

Fun fact - Although the tech might have improved, a lot of the seeds never
used to get irradiated properly.

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xj9
Previous discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8232378](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8232378)

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CatsoCatsoCatso
There was an article about this in the New Scientist (UK) a few weeks back.
They highlighted concerns that unlike mass illegal cannabis production the
heat/energy footprint of producing opium in something like a bathtub would be
almost undetectable.

If someone finds a way to produce addictive drugs from yeast then a whole new
ball park could be opened up in the war on drugs.

~~~
pixl97
>If someone finds a way to produce addictive drugs from yeast then a whole new
ball park could be opened up in the war on drugs.

More like a whole new ballpark in the devastation of human rights. How exactly
do you fight against this without a totalitarian police state? The gene labs
could be anywhere in the world, bringing a new strain in would be as simple as
tiny sealed pocket in just about anything you could imagine. Would the yeast
itself be considered illegal? How much would be, a few micrograms?

And this is just the early days of gene manipulation. Way better and more
potent combinations will be made at some point, because even though it may be
'somewhat' difficult, there is a lot of money to be made. Which turns back to
the government now monitoring everybody that has knowledge and ability in the
genetics world since they could be a drug manufacture.

Future will be an interesting place.

~~~
nugga
The answer is of course repealing the war on drugs. Maybe legalization of
cannabis paves the way to the realization that regulation, taxation and harm
reduction are much better ways of combating not only the violence and
corruption that stems from the black market but especially the health issues.

~~~
pixl97
Oh I certainly agree with that, unfortunately a sizeable portion of the
population doesn't. A significant lobby base in the U.S. fights actively
against legalization and will throw tons of money at the current racket too.

~~~
digi_owl
There are times i wonder if people are incapable of learning from history...

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beagle3
Question to biologists: Is cross contamination an issue? e.g. Monsanto corn
has contaminated non-monsanto corn through wind/pollen/whatever natural
mechanism.

Is there a non zero probability that sometime in the future I'll buy standard
yeast for cooking at the store and get some of the kind described in the
article?

~~~
pierrec
No. First of all, this modification brings a significant handicap to the
organism (it's wasting its resources), so it can't spread in nature. And even
without any competition from wildtype yeast, it's likely to get rid of the
opium pathway by itself once enough generations have passed.

Anyways, yeast culture is done in closed environments with specific varieties
as stems.

The invasive potential of some Monsanto varieties that you mention arises from
the fact that they were modified to be resistant to specific pesticides,
giving them a significant advantage since these pesticides are everywhere.

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drallison
Now that opiates can be cloned, will cocaine and ephedrine (for
methamphetamine) be far behind?

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venomsnake
Now that will be a fun sourdough bread ...

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dmschulman
Yeah but will the GMO heroin be labeled as such?

~~~
randyrand
And what if I'm gluten free? They need to make GMO Heroin gluten free!

