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'Home-brewed morphine' made possible

Anomalism

Anomalism

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Great, now they're going to ban sugar and yeast. :lamo

'Home-brewed morphine' made possible - BBC News

Scientists have figured out how to brew morphine using the same kit used to make beer at home. They have genetically modified yeast to perform the complicated chemistry needed to convert sugar to morphine. The findings, published in Nature Chemical Biology, raise promise for medicine but also concerns about "home-brewed" illegal drugs. Experts have called for tight control of organisms genetically modified to produce narcotics.

If you brew beer at home, then you are relying on microscopic yeast that turns sugars into alcohol. But by borrowing DNA from plants, scientists have been genetically engineering yeasts that can perform each of the steps needed to convert sugar into morphine. One stage of the process - the production of an intermediary chemical called reticuline - had been a stumbling block. That has been solved by a team at the University of California, Berkeley, and the scientists say it should now be possible to put all the steps together and "brew" morphine. Dr John Dueber, a bioengineer at the university, said: "What you really want to do from a fermentation perspective is to be able to feed the yeast glucose, which is a cheap sugar source, and have the yeast do all the chemical steps required downstream to make your target therapeutic drug. "With our study, all the steps have been described, and it's now a matter of linking them together and scaling up the process. "It's not a trivial challenge, but it's doable."
 
Anomalism said:
Great, now they're going to ban sugar and yeast. :lamo

'Home-brewed morphine' made possible - BBC News

Scientists have figured out how to brew morphine using the same kit used to make beer at home. They have genetically modified yeast to perform the complicated chemistry needed to convert sugar to morphine. The findings, published in Nature Chemical Biology, raise promise for medicine but also concerns about "home-brewed" illegal drugs. Experts have called for tight control of organisms genetically modified to produce narcotics.

If you brew beer at home, then you are relying on microscopic yeast that turns sugars into alcohol. But by borrowing DNA from plants, scientists have been genetically engineering yeasts that can perform each of the steps needed to convert sugar into morphine. One stage of the process - the production of an intermediary chemical called reticuline - had been a stumbling block. That has been solved by a team at the University of California, Berkeley, and the scientists say it should now be possible to put all the steps together and "brew" morphine. Dr John Dueber, a bioengineer at the university, said: "What you really want to do from a fermentation perspective is to be able to feed the yeast glucose, which is a cheap sugar source, and have the yeast do all the chemical steps required downstream to make your target therapeutic drug. "With our study, all the steps have been described, and it's now a matter of linking them together and scaling up the process. "It's not a trivial challenge, but it's doable."
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I picture millions of people reading this article in frustration and and screaming at their monitor: "Just post the ****ing link to the recipe already!!"
 
This is fantastic. I am sure this can help a lot of people in the world who would typically not have access to an important drug like morphine.
 
Is this really cheaper and/or easier than growing the poppies and extracting? Opium poppies are very easy to grow.
 
if people want to use opiates, that's on them. at least if they can make it at home, they won't be robbing houses to get it. also, that would take a big chunk of money out of organized crime. the other benefit i see is that the drug warriors won't be able to put every obstacle they can in front of people who are in horrible pain.

the downside is that opiates are ****ing scary. the only way i would take one is if the pain was really, seriously bad.
 
clownboy said:
Is this really cheaper and/or easier than growing the poppies and extracting? Opium poppies are very easy to grow.
Click to expand...

I think your permanent poppy field might attract some attention.
 
Helix said:
if people want to use opiates, that's on them. at least if they can make it at home, they won't be robbing houses to get it. also, that would take a big chunk of money out of organized crime. the other benefit i see is that the drug warriors won't be able to put every obstacle they can in front of people who are in horrible pain.

the downside is that opiates are ****ing scary. the only way i would take one is if the pain was really, seriously bad.
Click to expand...

And to think our troops were protecting those A-Stan poppy fields for naught.
 
Helix said:
if people want to use opiates, that's on them. at least if they can make it at home, they won't be robbing houses to get it. also, that would take a big chunk of money out of organized crime. the other benefit i see is that the drug warriors won't be able to put every obstacle they can in front of people who are in horrible pain.

the downside is that opiates are ****ing scary. the only way i would take one is if the pain was really, seriously bad.
Click to expand...

C'mon. People in terrible pain have NO obstacles getting pain meds. The obstacles come when/if they start selling them.

Yes, doctors are leery of prescribing opiates to patients when there isn't a compelling need, but they have no problem putting those with genuine need on pain management.
 
While interesting, I am not sure of the marketability.
Real morphine is not actually expensive.
 
clownboy said:
C'mon. People in terrible pain have NO obstacles getting pain meds. The obstacles come when/if they start selling them.

Yes, doctors are leery of prescribing opiates to patients when there isn't a compelling need, but they have no problem putting those with genuine need on pain management.
Click to expand...

many have to jump through all kinds of hoops and deal with bull****.

Pill mill fallout: Legitimate patients have trouble getting pain meds - Naples Daily News

Walgreens' "secret checklist" reveals controversial new policy - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

no one who has legitimate chronic pain issues should have to go without meds.
 
Cardinal said:
I think your permanent poppy field might attract some attention.
Click to expand...

Funny thing about that, turns out not so much. Up the road from my brother in our home town, lady has been growing poppies in her yard for as long as we've been alive. The sheriff visited her the other day and helped her remove them. Turns out they were opium poppies. No one tripped to the fact for decades.
 
Cardinal said:
I think your permanent poppy field might attract some attention.
Click to expand...

I think so too.

About 20 years ago the FBI went to visit my 70 some year old aunt who lived in a very rural area where she had a beautiful
Poppy garden planted near the hi way. She told the agents she had that garden over 20 years and enjoyed the Poppy garden because of the beautiful colors. They made her get rid it anyway.
 
clownboy said:
Funny thing about that, turns out not so much. Up the road from my brother in our home town, lady has been growing poppies in her yard for as long as we've been alive. The sheriff visited her the other day and helped her remove them. Turns out they were opium poppies. No one tripped to the fact for decades.
Click to expand...

The sheriff apparently had reason to believe the lady wasn't cultivating them for her lab in the basement. Fact, though, is nobody is caught. Until they are.
 
minnie616 said:
I think so too.

About 20 years the FBI went to visit my 70 some year old aunt who lived in a very rural area where she had a beautiful
Poppy garden planted near the hi way. She told the agents she had that garden over 20 years and enjoyed the Poppy garden because of the beautiful colors. They made her get rid it anyway.
Click to expand...

I feel safer already. There are actually quite a few legal plants that grow illicit substances. I'm curious when the ban hammer is going to fall on a huge swath of ornamental cactus.
 
Helix said:
many have to jump through all kinds of hoops and deal with bull****.

Pill mill fallout: Legitimate patients have trouble getting pain meds - Naples Daily News

Walgreens' "secret checklist" reveals controversial new policy - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

no one who has legitimate chronic pain issues should have to go without meds.
Click to expand...

There are a thousand and one pharmacies in just about every developed locale. If you're out in the sticks you can have them delivered for crying out loud.

Btw, from the article:
Because she is permanently disabled and on Medicare, she found salvation through a mail order company which now delivers her prescription to her home. She knows other pain patients who aren’t on disability and can’t access the same solution.
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That last part is bull**** of course. Want to bet those other "pain patients" she knows aren't prescribed?

The woman at the heart of the article ASKED to be put on morphine because the oxy black market was getting ugly, what sense does that make?
 
Cardinal said:
The sheriff apparently had reason to believe the lady wasn't cultivating them for her lab in the basement. Fact, though, is nobody is caught. Until they are.
Click to expand...

We knew she wasn't. As I said, my family had been living down the road from her for well over 60 years now. The Sheriff is a good young man and explained it to her gently.
 
Druggies already brew meth in basement "labs", so making morphine in a similar way isn't going to change much of anything. If people want to kill themselves with drugs, there isn't a lot the government can do to stop it.
 
clownboy said:
We knew she wasn't. As I said, my family had been living down the road from her for well over 60 years now. The Sheriff is a good young man and explained it to her gently.
Click to expand...

My point wasn't whether or not she was cultivating the poppies for morphine, but that the poppies she grew even for obviously ornamental reasons attracted attention just the same.
 
clownboy said:
The woman at the heart of the article ASKED to be put on morphine because the oxy black market was getting ugly, what sense does that make?
Click to expand...
Medical morphine may be much safer than oxy, easier on your liver.
I am not sure if one is more addictive than the other, but I have heard the chronic pain users
have a easier time with the morphine. (and it is cheap)
 
clownboy said:
Is this really cheaper and/or easier than growing the poppies and extracting? Opium poppies are very easy to grow.
Click to expand...

Assuming it really can be done using beer brewing techniques, then yes it would be MUCH easier. From the OP it just sounds like the trick is in having the right strain of yeast. And once that strain somehow finds its way into the hands of the right/wrong person, well, cultivating yeast is also very easy. Once you get your hands on some of the yeast you will never have to buy it again, if you know what you are doing.

Now, all of that is assuming the yeast actually can produce morphine.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Druggies already brew meth in basement "labs", so making morphine in a similar way isn't going to change much of anything. If people want to kill themselves with drugs, there isn't a lot the government can do to stop it.
Click to expand...

If I read the OP correctly it makes the process similar to making beer. I guess one of the appeals is that very few people actually blow themselves up making beer.
 
clownboy said:
C'mon. People in terrible pain have NO obstacles getting pain meds. The obstacles come when/if they start selling them.

Yes, doctors are leery of prescribing opiates to patients when there isn't a compelling need, but they have no problem putting those with genuine need on pain management.
Click to expand...

Opiates used for chronic pain management cause an increase in non-opiate pain receptors, effectively causing people to develop more pain over time that will not improve with increased opiate dosages. So not only do you have more tolerance, requiring increased doses of the opiate, but you have worsening of the condition as a result. There is very little legitimate use for opiates outside of palliative care for terminal cases, in which these long term risks are moot.
 
Cardinal said:
If I read the OP correctly it makes the process similar to making beer. I guess one of the appeals is that very people actually blow themselves up making beer.
Click to expand...

Good point. Making meth is a lot more dangerous, so if the druggies actually care about the risk of blowing up their (probably rented anyway) apartment, then they can switch to a safer alternative.

Then, all they have to worry about will be getting caught by the narcs, or being shot by a rival drug dealer.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Good point. Making meth is a lot more dangerous, so if the druggies actually care about the risk of blowing up their (probably rented anyway) apartment, then they can switch to a safer alternative.

Then, all they have to worry about will be getting caught by the narcs, or being shot by a rival drug dealer.
Click to expand...

In any case brewing supply stores are probably going to get a lot more regulated in the future.
 
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