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Putting the opium in poppy to sleep

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A genetically modified opium poppy produces a pharmaceutical precursor instead of morphine and codeine.

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Figure 1: In aerial parts of the opium poppy, including unripe seed capsules (background), the analgesic alkaloids morphine and codeine are synthesized from the amino acid tyrosine via multiple enzymatic steps, with reticuline as an intermediate.

Bob Crimi

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Memelink, J. Putting the opium in poppy to sleep. Nat Biotechnol 22, 1526–1527 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1204-1526

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1204-1526

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