RESEARCHER LOOKING TO GROW PAIN RELIEVER

Funding Will Help Continue Quest To Isolate Opium Gene

Peter Facchini believes the genes of opium poppies could plant the
seeds of a new industry in Canada.

The University of Calgary researcher is isolating the genes that give
the flower its powerful pain-reliving qualities, and wants to use
those genes to produce codeine in yeast.

Now, Facchini is getting a substantial boost to his research. He is
one of the leaders of a team of researchers across Canada who have
received $13.6 million from various sources, including $1.9 million
from the province through Genome Alberta.

Producing codeine in yeast would increase yields and reduce costs of
producing codeine, Facchini said.

The process would also avoid having to grow the controversial opium
poppy, whose notoriety is garnered from the fact the morphine derived
from it can be converted into heroin (although Facchini notes
countries such as Australia that grow opium poppies for
pharmaceuticals have strict safety measures).

Facchini predicts that by the time the project is finished, there will
be "a scalable fermentation system that can produce as much codeine as
we want in a very controllable and secure way."

The broader research is looking at isolating genes in a whole variety
of plant-based compounds. Such products include flavours, fragrances,
pesticides, pigments and other industrial chemicals, Facchini said.

He noted one of his colleagues who is also working on the project is
looking at grapefruit flavour as a target molecule: "The market for
grapefruit flavour is actually substantial," Facchini said.

Facchini said Alberta can take advantage of research in the area to
"create really very novel industries based on the production of such
high-value plants materials."

Facchini said Canada does not produce any of its own opiates,
importing them instead. He said by producing such pharmaceuticals in
yeast, it would get around some of the legal barriers against growing
opium poppies in Canada.

One of the overarching goals of project is to tap into a variety of
natural product-producing plants and develop a large collection of
genes and codeine enzymes that have different functions, Facchini said.

With such a catalogue of genes and enzymes, researchers can pick
ingredients and build compounds.

"The yeast is much easier to manipulate compared to the plant, to
manipulate genetically and metabolically," he said.

"You can diversify the compounds that are made in a much more facile
way."

On Wednesday, the province also announced it will give $2 million to
another U of C research team, headed by Gerrit Voordouw, which is
looking at the oilsands and coal seams.

The team is researching microbes that break down hydrocarbons to finds
ways to manage tailing ponds and use less water and natural gas in
oilsands extraction.

The team also has funding from various other sources totalling $11.6
million.