Decoded Nicotine Blueprint in Tobacco Sparks New Biotech Possibilities

A UK-Danish team unraveled the genes and enzymes that synthesize nicotine in tobacco, showing nicotine forms from glucose with the help of two enzymes (NaGR and NicGS) and glucose disappearing in the process—a discovery that solves a 200-year mystery and could let researchers suppress nicotine production or retool tobacco plants to manufacture vaccines and other pharmaceuticals. The work highlights new biotech applications for tobacco as a production platform, beyond smoking products, and was published in Nature Communications.