Overview
- The Weizmann Institute team, whose study appeared Wednesday in Science Advances, used tobacco leaves as a test bed to make DMT, psilocybin, psilocin, 5‑MeO‑DMT, and bufotenin.
- Researchers pinpointed the enzymes that start and drive these pathways, including tryptophan decarboxylase and N‑methyltransferases, and showed the same tools work across related tryptamines.
- The genes were delivered into leaves with engineered Agrobacterium in a transient setup that does not pass traits to seeds, reflecting a design choice for containment within research labs.
- The platform also produced non‑natural analogs by tweaking enzymes, suggesting routes to tailor new candidates for therapy while offering a greener supply that could spare plants and toads taken from the wild.
- The authors floated ideas like building a single plant that makes ayahuasca or low‑dose edible crops for microdosing, framing these as future possibilities that would require strict regulation, safety testing, and clinical oversight.