We aim to genetically modify PCC 7942 to produce acetaminophen, a common mild anesthetic and antipyretic recognized by the WHO as an essential medicine ^[1]. However, in many countries with lower regulations and faulty policies regarding drug manufacturing, acetaminophen can be synthesized with lethal toxins that result in hundreds of deaths worldwide ^[23]. Acetaminophen is often used in conjunction with opioid pain medications postoperatively to enhance pain relief, thus reducing reliance upon opioid pharmaceuticals ^[24].

We are using a previously engineered pathway in E. coli as a model of acetaminophen biosynthesis to enhance PCC 7942 ^{[26, 25]}. The pathway converts chorismate, an abundant aminoacid precursor of tryptophan, phenylalanine, and tyrosine, into acetaminophen with the addition ofthe 4ABH gene from A. bisporus, an edible mushroom, and nhoA from E. coli.