Aggregated News
In the constant fight between microbes and people, attempts to rein in the malarial parasite have just taken an interesting turn. On Thursday the founder of Amyris Biotech triumphantly announced production of 70m doses of the anti-malarial compound artemisinin. This sounds like good news for poor people but may be a step backwards – the start of a new hi-tech assault on farmers.
There is no doubt that artemisinin is important. Artemisinin combination therapies are the World Health Organisation's drug of choice for battling malaria – which caused an estimated 660,000 deaths in 2010 – and other artemisinin-based approaches also exist.
Yet the good news stops there. Until this week, artemisinin for drugs was sourced entirely from the delicate leaves of artemesia annua (sweet wormwood) following sustained efforts to develop artemesia growing as doubly beneficial: a source of livelihood for African and Asian farmers, and a public health good. What makes Amyris's breakthrough significant is that its version has never been near a wormwood shrub. It comes from an industrial vat of bioengineered yeast.
Making this possible is a controversial...
There is no doubt that artemisinin is important. Artemisinin combination therapies are the World Health Organisation's drug of choice for battling malaria – which caused an estimated 660,000 deaths in 2010 – and other artemisinin-based approaches also exist.
Yet the good news stops there. Until this week, artemisinin for drugs was sourced entirely from the delicate leaves of artemesia annua (sweet wormwood) following sustained efforts to develop artemesia growing as doubly beneficial: a source of livelihood for African and Asian farmers, and a public health good. What makes Amyris's breakthrough significant is that its version has never been near a wormwood shrub. It comes from an industrial vat of bioengineered yeast.
Making this possible is a controversial...