Cocaine is a substance with a medical application but also poses significant abuse and addiction hazards. According to a report from NewScientist, biochemists have recreated the cocaine-producing biochemistry of the cocoa plant in the tobacco plant.
Unpicking the Coca Plant's Biochemistry
The intricate biochemistry that causes coca plants to produce cocaine has been unpicked and recreated in a tobacco plant relative, the report stated.
This discovery makes it possible to reproduce the stimulant or create chemically related chemicals with distinct qualities by replicating the process by genetically altering other plants or microorganisms.
For more than a century, the coca plant's ability to produce cocaine has been a marvel for biochemists because of its complex and unique chemical structure and ability to stimulate anesthetic activity.
Sheng-Xiong Huang and his colleagues at the Kunming Institute of Botany in China have discovered a way to better understand the substance by introducing two previously absent enzymes known as EnMT4 and EnCYP81AN15.
Using these two enzymes, the team of biochemists genetically transformed Nicotiana benthamiana, a relative of the tobacco plant, to generate cocaine. They discovered that it could create 400 nanograms of cocaine per milligram of dried leaf, or roughly 25% of the amount found in a coca plant.
According to Huang, there is currently insufficient cocaine manufacturing in tobacco to supply the demand on a large scale. He also mentioned that organisms with high biomass and rapid development, like the bacterium Escherichia coli or the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, may assemble the established biosynthetic pathway.
History of Cocaine Use
Over 4,000 years ago, the coca plant was treated as a medicine by the first inhabitants of Bolivia, Peru, and Columbia, according to the DEA Museum. In the 16th century, European explorers reported that locals chewed the leaves of this plant to improve mood, aid in digestion, and increase appetite.
Believe it or not, world-famous Coca-Cola included cocaine as one of its main flavoring ingredients in the late 1800s. It was in the early 1900s that crude cocaine was taken out of circulation. This information is from the US drug enforcement agency. Interestingly enough, the soft drink company denies that it ever used cocaine for flavoring.
Coca-Cola flavor is currently produced in the United States using a de-cocainized version of the coca leaf extract. Selected pharmaceutical businesses use leftover crude cocaine to make medicines, the DEA also said.
In the early 1900s, Western medicine modified the coca plant to work as a numbing agent for anesthesia. It was not until the 1970s that the drug was reintroduced as a narcotic that was abused and made into an easily accessible and inexpensive illegal substance.
The federal government classifies cocaine as a Schedule II controlled substance. This means that the law places allowances and restrictions on drugs with regard to possession, manufacturing, and use.
Stay posted for more interesting news.
