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Revision as of 02:13, 6 October 2017
Acetaminophen Metabolics
"Antipyretic drugs, by being analgesics, reduce not only the fever but also the pain."
~Clinical Manual of Fever in Children
We aim to genetically modify cyanobacteria Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 to produce acetaminophen, also called paracetamol, a common anesthetic and antipyretic recognized by the WHO as an essential medicine [1]. The active ingredient in Tylenol, acetaminophen works synergistically with opioid pain medications to enhance pain relief, reducing costs and reliance upon opioid pharmaceuticals [24]. In some countries with lower regulations on drug manufacturing, acetaminophen has been synthesized with lethal toxins that has resulted in hundreds of deaths worldwide [23]. Our modified organism will provide consistent, sustainable medicine, ensuring that anyone with sunlight, fertilizer, and water will be able to produce their own supply of acetaminophen.
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.
