Nonnarcotic Poppy Could Aid Medicine
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Australian researchers have genetically engineered the common poppy so that it no longer produces morphine or codeine.
As a result, the team reported in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the plants accumulate significant quantities of the nonnarcotic alkaloid reticuline. Reticuline, a precursor of antimalarial and anticancer drugs, could be a valuable product.
