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Chemists pin down poppy’s tricks for making morphine

Identifying enzymes involved in opiate synthesis could mean better ways to make painkillers

By Rachel Ehrenberg

- More than 2 years ago

Opiates for the masses may not be far off. Scientists have figured out two of the final steps in the chain of chemical reactions that synthesize morphine in the opium poppy.

FLOWER POWER Researchers have unraveled the critical final steps in the opium poppy’s biochemical pathway for producing morphine.