Genetically modified lab plants: the next source of powerful anti-cancer drugs?

Etoposide is a potent chemotherapeutic agent that has been cleared by the FDA in 1983 for the treatment of many types of cancers. Podophyllotoxin is a precursor for this drug, and has traditionally been derived from the Himalayan mayapple (Podophyllum hexandrum), a now endangered plant from the Indian Himalayan Region. To keep the future of this drug more certain, researchers have turned to genetic engineering and a common lab plant to become the new source of this important molecule.

What has become the newest supplier of this anticancer drug?

In this report, the authors first identified the biosynthetic genes that drive podophllotoxin production pathway. Ultimately, the team identified 10 enzymes that were important components of the pathway, and the genes for these enzymes were transiently expressed in the common lab plant Nicotiana benthiamiana via Agrobacterium. Expression of these enzymes drove the synthesis of (-)-4’-desmethylepipodophyllotoxin, another precursor to Etoposide. By enabling common plants to produce anticancer therapeutics, production of these important compounds has become more certain.