Not so strictosidine

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology think they have overcome a significant hurdle in the biosynthesis of indole alkaloids-a family of compounds naturally produced in plants that includes marketed cancer drugs such as vinblastine and vincristine. In addition to producing intermediates for these therapeutically valuable compounds, the technique could be used to produce new alkaloids.

Alkaloid biosynthesis is typically carried out by expressing the relevant plant enzymes in microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and yeast, both of which are easier to engineer and grow than plants. But the utility of microorganisms is limited by the lack of understanding of the enzymes involved in alkaloid production in plants, as many are unidentified...