A team of international researchers showed that genetically engineered yeast can produce a natural product called alstonine, which can be used to treat patients with schizophrenia, according to a study published in Nature Chemical Biology.
Production of chemical compounds using genetically engineered yeast is showing promising results. In 2022, the team attracted international attention by programming the longest biosynthetic assembly line designed to produce substances for cancer drugs.
Now, they have managed to produce the naturally occurring substance, alstonine, which has shown promising results for use in treating mental disorders. “Development of medicines from natural plant substances is widely used. However, since plants do not produce these substances to fight human diseases, there is often a need to modify them to make them more effective and safe,” says Michael Krogh Jensen, a senior researcher at DTU Biosustain and co-founder of the biotech company Biomia. The researchers believe this method may be able to play a prominent role in discovering and developing plant-based medicine.
This work proves that engineered yeast can make a variety of substances. In addition to alstonine, the team has refined the method to produce nearly 20 other compounds through a chemical process called halogenation.
“We have found a method to make yeast cells use enzymes and carry out the same chemical process that takes place in halogenation. Plants generally can’t naturally carry out halogenation. Therefore, our versatile biotechnological platform is a possible method for optimizing and developing plant-based alkaloids that may then be used to make medicines against, for example, schizophrenia, for which there are many negative side effects such as insomnia, weight gain and reduced immunity, when using existing medicines” says Michael Krogh Jensen.
After the promising results, the team filed a patent application for the manufacture of alstonine and established a company called Biomia. So far, Biomia has raised 3 million USD in September 2023. Research is still in its infancy, but the team expects to be able to send substances derived from alstonine to clinical trials in 2026. Even if the clinical studies are successful, it will still be at least ten years before patients can use these new meds.
Bradley, S.A., Lehka, B.J., Hansson, F.G. et al. Biosynthesis of natural and halogenated plant monoterpene indole alkaloids in yeast. Nat Chem Biol 19, 1551–1560 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-023-01430-2