Psychedelics are a novel class of therapeutics positioned to fulfill an unmet need in mental health treatment; however, current synthesis strategies struggle to deliver the quantities and quality of product necessary for the pharmaceutical market in a competitive and cost-efficient manner. The Jones Lab aims to fill this gap through their development of a fermentation-based psilocybin production platform using synthetic biology-driven metabolic engineering. I will discuss the optimization of our psilocybin biosynthesis platform as well as applications of our platform to produce a range of bioactive natural and non-natural tryptamines with potential therapeutic value. Preliminary animal study results will be shared that evaluate nature-inspired tryptamine combinations that act to enhance the effect of psilocybin. The talk will conclude with a discussion around the regulatory needs for this novel biosynthesis technology and strategies to facilitate the use of this technology without handicapping scientific progress towards development of novel therapeutics.

Development of an <i>E. coli</i> platform strain for the biosynthesis of nature-inspired psychedelic medicines

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.

Development of an E. coli platform strain for the biosynthesis of nature-inspired psychedelic medicines