Baker’s yeast engineered to produce precursor for essential cancer drugs

A modified baker’s yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) has been engineered to produce a precursor compound for two essential cancer medicines. By reconstructing a complex 45-enzyme biosynthetic pathway inside yeast, researchers in China have unlocked the direct microbial synthesis of key precursors for etoposide and teniposide, potentially offering a more efficient way to make the drugs than the current synthetic routes.

Etoposide and teniposide are first-line chemotherapeutics used to treat millions of patients annually for leukaemia, and certain lung and brain tumours. Despite their critical importance, their production relies on extraction of a precursor, podophyllotoxin, from an endangered Himalayan plant that takes four to five years to accumulate sufficient quantities of the compound. The subsequent syntheses require more than 10 steps, precious metal catalysts, and give yields below 20%.