Breakthrough in psilocybin production (new psychedelic bacteria) (Patreon)
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This research hasn't even officially been published yet, but will be in December (in the journal Metabolic Engineering). Researchers at Miami University have successfully modified harmless E. coli bacteria to produce psilocybin. Many people do not know this, but producing synthetic psilocybin is complicated, time consuming, and expensive. If psilocybin is ever approved for medical use, with current technology pharmaceutical grade psilocybin would cost approximately $40-60 per dose ($2/mg). This also makes research with psilocybin more expensive.
Researchers from the Hoffmeister group recently identified the gene sequences in psilocybe cubensis mushrooms that are responsible for the biosynthesis of psilocybin. The Miami University researchers were able to leverage this knowledge to modify E. coli bacteria resulting in genetically modified versions of the bacteria that produce psilocybin. Through much work and tweaking, isolation, and optimizations, they were able to identify a strain and process that can produce a substantial quantity of psilocybin (over a gram per liter). This could potentially lead to industrial scale production of psilocybin at very low cost.
Who knows, maybe one day even hobbyists at home will even be using such bacteria. I always wanted my own CRISPR machine ;)