scientist have bioengineered bacteria to pump out psilocybin , the psychoactive ingredient that cast the " magic trick " into wizard mushrooms , in surprisingly abundant quantities .
Researchers from Miami University negociate to transfer the desoxyribonucleic acid sequence responsible for psilocybin product from a mushroom into a microbe emcee , a strain ofE. coli , the common bacteria most often connect with food poisoning .
account in the journalMetabolic Engineering , the bacteria are blarney into producing psilocin through a practice hump asmetabolic engineeringthat expend optimizing familial and regulatory process within cells to increase the yield of a certain substance . Remarkably , theE. colibacteria started to pump out quantities of the psychedelic substance into a petri dish . With further tweaking , they finally yielded psilocin at a concentration of 1.16 grams per liter .
“ We are taking the DNA from the mushroom that encode its power to make this mathematical product and putting it inE. coli , ” lead study author Andrew Jones , a chemic and biologic engineer at Miami University , said in astatement . “It ’s similar to the path you make beer , through a zymosis unconscious process . We are efficaciously taking the technology that allow for ordered series and speed of production and applying it to our psilocybin producingE. coli .
“ What ’s exciting is the f number at which we were able to achieve our high yield . Over the course of instruction of this subject we improved production from only a few milligram per liter to over a gram per liter , a nigh 500 - fold gain , ” he added .
While the dream of easily produced psilocybin will no doubt make many psychonauts very happy , the synthetic thinking of this substance is also of huge involvement to scientist . Psilocybin is currently being used in clinical trials as a potential boulevard for treatingdepression , addictions , andpost - traumatic stress upset .
Off the back of this feat , the researchers fence they have made “ a significant step ” towards the industrial production of biologically derived psilocybin . Next up , the team hopes to study way to make theE. colibacterium an even better master of ceremonies and take care forward to fancy if it ’s possible to give rise psilocybin to the layer expect for the pharmaceutical industry . This has the potentiality to make research into the therapeutic effects of psilocybin both easier and cheaper to carry out .
what is more , there ’s a slow but steady social movement towards the legalization of psilocin , as shown by therecent decriminalization of magic mushroomsin Denver .
Speaking to IFLScience , Jones added : “ Although we have made great gains by increase the psilocybin production abilities of thisE. colistrain , there is still quite a bit of oeuvre to be done . We are currently working to improve the transmitted scope of ourE. colistrain to make it a more static and effective horde for the biosynthesis . "
“ As with all research , it will take some time to develop the engineering science , but we do project to publish our findings once they are discovered and multiply . Stay tuned ! ”
