Paclitaxel is a natural compound extracted from Pacific yew, a tree that is in danger of extinction. It is a drug of great importance for cancer research.
Cancer, cells, research, therapy. Photo Unsplash.
A group of Chinese scientists made significant progress in Development of an extremely important and difficult to obtain anti-cancer drug. This discovery could represent a solid possibility of generating sustainable production of this drug, thanks to the fact that, through this research, experts were able to replicate the biosynthetic production route of this drug. tobacco plant Too.
about this paclitaxel, also know as taxol, a natural compound extracted from Prashant UAccording to the newspaper, a tree that is in danger of extinction South China Morning Post, These Chinese researchers understood Biosynthetic pathway of this drug to replicate it in tobacco plantWhich will allow large-scale, low-cost sustainable production.
Yew Tree. Photo: Unsplash.
Study published by scientific journal ScienceIt is detailed that the biosynthesis pathway found in tobacco is More efficient than those present in some treesBecause they require fewer enzymes and provide better performance.
,This discovery is an important advance in the understanding of the biosynthesis of complex natural products.Jens Nielsen, a professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, said, according to media. China Daily.
Tobacco leaves. Photo: Unsplash.
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tobacco plant, picked
According to scientists’ explanationThe complex chemical structure of the yew tree makes it difficult to obtain paclitaxel.This anti-cancer drug of relevant importance forces the felling of large quantities of these trees, through traditional methods, in serious danger of extinction, Treating patients with breast, ovarian and lung cancer.
This tree grows very slowly, It may take decades or even hundreds of years to grow into a large tree. That’s why researchers started looking for an alternative that would facilitate its large-scale production and this is what they found Tobacco plant.
Through genetic engineering techniques, scientists managed to identify and isolate the key enzymes in the production of a compound called paclitaxel. Bacatina III, While work still needs to be done on the challenges presented by serial manufacturing, this finding “Will allow production of other valuable drugs on a larger scale and development of new drugs“The scientist concluded.