Bioengineered yeast mass produces herbal medicine

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Herbal medicine is difficult to produce on an industrial scale. A team of Kobe University bioengineers manipulated the cellular machinery in a species of yeast so that one such molecule can now be produced in a fermenter at unprecedented concentrations. The achievement also points the way to the microbial production of other plant-derived compounds.

Herbal medicinal products offer many beneficial health effects, but they are often unsuitable for mass production. One example is artepillin C, which has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer action, but is only available as a bee culture product.

The Kobe University bioengineer Hasunuma Tomohisa says, "To obtain a high-yield and low-cost supply, it is desirable to produce it in bioengineered microorganisms which can be grown in fermenters." This, however, comes with its own technical challenges.

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