Researchers at the Indian Institutes of Technology Madras and Mandi have metabolically engineered plant cells to increase production of anti-cancer drug camptothecin (CPT).
The allopathic medicine is produced using Nathapodytes nimmoniana, a native, endangered plant. It requires nearly 1,000 tonnes of plant material to extract 1 tonne of CPT. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has red-listed the plant as in the past decade alone there has been a 20% decline in the plant’s population.
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