Rectify Bluelighter Joined Oct 20, 2008 Messages 10,500 Sunday at 11:13 PM #1 Scientists have engineered tobacco plants to function as living factories for multiple psychedelic compounds.Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel successfully modified Nicotiana benthamiana, a close relative of tobacco widely used in plant biotechnology, to produce five powerful tryptamine psychedelics. These compounds are naturally found in “magic mushrooms,” certain plants, and the secretions of a toad species.The breakthrough could pave the way for more sustainable and scalable production of psychedelic medicines, which are currently under intense investigation for treating depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction.To achieve this, the team introduced nine genes from different organisms (fungi, plants, and animals) into the tobacco plants using a transient expression technique called agroinfiltration. This method temporarily delivers the genes without permanently altering the plant’s genome, allowing the plants to produce the compounds for a limited time.The modified plants synthesized psilocybin and its active form psilocin (from mushrooms), as well as DMT, bufotenin, and 5-MeO-DMT (the potent psychedelic from the Colorado River toad). Some plants were even engineered to produce all five compounds simultaneously.This plant-based approach offers a promising alternative to harvesting psychedelics from wild or cultivated natural sources, many of which face increasing pressure from habitat loss, overharvesting, and rising research demand. Using common agricultural plants as biological production systems could reduce costs and environmental impact.While the yields in this proof-of-concept study were relatively modest, the work demonstrates the feasibility of producing complex psychoactive molecules in greenhouse-grown crops. It builds on decades of research using plants to manufacture pharmaceuticals and opens new possibilities for future psychedelic therapies.[Berman P, et al. Complete biosynthesis of psychedelic tryptamines from three kingdoms in plants. Science Advances. 2026;12(14):eaeb3034. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aeb3034]
Scientists have engineered tobacco plants to function as living factories for multiple psychedelic compounds.Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel successfully modified Nicotiana benthamiana, a close relative of tobacco widely used in plant biotechnology, to produce five powerful tryptamine psychedelics. These compounds are naturally found in “magic mushrooms,” certain plants, and the secretions of a toad species.The breakthrough could pave the way for more sustainable and scalable production of psychedelic medicines, which are currently under intense investigation for treating depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction.To achieve this, the team introduced nine genes from different organisms (fungi, plants, and animals) into the tobacco plants using a transient expression technique called agroinfiltration. This method temporarily delivers the genes without permanently altering the plant’s genome, allowing the plants to produce the compounds for a limited time.The modified plants synthesized psilocybin and its active form psilocin (from mushrooms), as well as DMT, bufotenin, and 5-MeO-DMT (the potent psychedelic from the Colorado River toad). Some plants were even engineered to produce all five compounds simultaneously.This plant-based approach offers a promising alternative to harvesting psychedelics from wild or cultivated natural sources, many of which face increasing pressure from habitat loss, overharvesting, and rising research demand. Using common agricultural plants as biological production systems could reduce costs and environmental impact.While the yields in this proof-of-concept study were relatively modest, the work demonstrates the feasibility of producing complex psychoactive molecules in greenhouse-grown crops. It builds on decades of research using plants to manufacture pharmaceuticals and opens new possibilities for future psychedelic therapies.[Berman P, et al. Complete biosynthesis of psychedelic tryptamines from three kingdoms in plants. Science Advances. 2026;12(14):eaeb3034. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aeb3034]
