Yeast as a Superpower

Over a decade ago, scientists at Berkeley genetically engineered a strain of yeast that could produce Artemisinin, a malaria drug. Now, scientists in the Stanford laboratories are using the same concept to produce chemicals for other medicines, such as painkillers and cough medicine. The end goal of this method is to be able to produce these medicines at a lower cost.

In order for this to work, DNA from different sources such as plants, bacteria or some animals are inserted into the yeast. This coaxes the yeast into producing enzymes that will convert sugars into the desired chemical. Currently, the process is not efficient enough to be of any concern with respect to producing illegal drugs. Dr. Christina Smolke, the head of Stanford's bio-engineering team, stated that it would take 4,400 gallons of yeast in order to produce enough hydrocodone for one Vicodin tablet. The team believes that this could help to produce safer pain killers down the line by simply making minor changes in the strain, but the process is at least three years away from being efficient enough to do so.

This process could be a great resource in order to make painkillers or other drugs more widely available. After this process is improved, it could have a huge impact of the cost of medications. Other studies are making strains of yeast that can yield tetrahydrocannibinol (THC) found in marijuana plants. Those researchers plan to produce other substituents from marijuana in order to really evaluate the medicinal use of them. There is a question of increased risk of illegal drug use with this process, but it is very complex and would be challenging for the average person to reproduce the strains. I think this could give us more opportunity to find new drugs that are safer and more efficient.