publication date :
Tuesday
12:00 2015-9-15
Researchers said they had identified genes that allow a plant that grows in the Himalayas to produce a chemical widely used in the manufacture of a chemotherapy drug, then inserted those genes into a plant that is easy to grow in the laboratory to produce the chemical substance.
The endangered plant, called Indian apple and from the Solanaceae family, produces a chemical precursor used in the cancer chemotherapy drug etoposide, used by many cancer patients of the lung, testicles, brain, lymphatic system, leukemia and to other types of cancer.
Using genetic engineering techniques, the researchers cultivated a plant (Nicotiana benthamiana) – a wild relative of the tobacco plant – which was used to produce the required chemical.
“Many plant-derived drugs are not found in large quantities in nature and are difficult to grow in laboratories,” said Elizabeth Sutley, a professor of chemical engineering at Stanford University who led the study published in the journal Science.
He added: “Mimicking nature’s way of producing these molecules is one of the promising alternatives, but to complement this, we need to monitor genes. This is a big challenge because plant genes can be very bulky, making it difficult to access the genes.”
Researchers said they discovered 6 genes in the Indian apple tree, which, when combined with 4 previously known genes, can produce the chemical used in chemotherapy. (agencies)
