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Researchers have identified the biochemical pathway through which tobacco plants synthesize nicotine, resolving a scientific question that has remained unanswered for approximately 200 years. The study, published in Nature Communications, details the specific enzymatic and molecular mechanisms involved in nicotine biosynthesis within the plant. This understanding provides a complete picture of how the alkaloid is produced at the genetic and biochemical level.
Why it matters
This discovery could enable scientists to engineer tobacco plants with disabled nicotine-producing pathways, making them safer platforms for producing pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other biologically derived compounds without nicotine contamination.
Scientists have uncovered how tobacco plants naturally make nicotine, solving a mystery that has puzzled researchers for nearly two centuries. The discovery, published in Nature Communications, could lead to safer production of medicines and vaccines using tobacco plants, without the unwanted nicotine.
Source: Scientists solve 200-year-old puzzle of how tobacco plants make nicotine