A common gut microbe could soon be offering us pain relief. Japanese bioengineers have tweaked Escherichia coli genes so that they pump out thebaine, a morphine precursor that can be modified to make painkillers. The genetically ...
Biotechnology
Feb 25, 2016
0
40
Many people who live in developing countries do not have access to the pain relief that comes from morphine or other analgesics. That's because opiates are primarily derived from the opium poppy plant (Papaver somniferum) ...
Biochemistry
Jul 13, 2015
2
1130
Scientists at the University of York and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Australia have made a key genetic discovery in poppies, paving the way for more effective painkillers.
Biotechnology
Jun 25, 2015
0
44
Using a newly developed X-ray source, scientists have revealed how a new type of pain-relievers works - bonding to the same neuroreceptors that morphine does, but without the accompanying physical dependence.
Biochemistry
Feb 18, 2015
1
39
University of Calgary scientists have discovered metabolic enzymes in the opium poppy that play "widespread roles" in enabling the plant to make painkilling morphine and codeine, and other important compounds.
Biochemistry
Oct 04, 2013
0
0
When Louis Carlat and his colleagues at the Thomas Edison Papers, which is based at Rutgers University, began working on Volume 7 of the papers in 2006, they benefitted from what Carlat calls “an explosion of available ...
Other
Nov 16, 2011
0
0
The next time you take aspirin for a headache, thank a willow tree. Salicylic acid, a compound chemically similar to aspirin, is found in willow tree bark and is made by the plant as a chemical defense against pathogens. ...
Biotechnology
Nov 01, 2011
0
0
Itching is one of the most prevalent side effects of powerful, pain-killing drugs like morphine, oxycodone and other opioids. The opiate-associated itch is so common that even women who get epidurals for labor pain often ...
Biochemistry
Oct 13, 2011
3
1
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have for the first time accomplished a laboratory synthesis of a rare natural product isolated from the bark of a plant widely employed in traditional medicine. ...
Biochemistry
May 23, 2011
3
0
The water in the canals and irrigation channels in the L'Albufera Natural Park in Valencia contain cocaine, ecstasy and a further six drugs. This has been confirmed by a study carried out by researchers from the University ...
Analytical Chemistry
Sep 22, 2010
0
0
Morphine (INN) (pronounced /ˈmɔrfiːn/) (MS Contin, MSIR, Avinza, Kadian, Oramorph, Roxanol) is a highly potent opiate analgesic psychoactive drug, is the principal active ingredient in Papaver somniferum (opium poppy, or simply opium), is considered to be the prototypical opioid. Like other opioids, e.g. oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan), hydromorphone (Dilaudid, Palladone), and diacetylmorphine (Heroin), morphine acts directly on the central nervous system (CNS) to relieve pain. Morphine has a high potential for addiction; tolerance and both physical and psychological dependence develop rapidly.
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