![\"Structures\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/550692_science.aef5438f1_856132.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA modified baker\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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%.<\/p>\n
Now, researchers led by Yating Hu and Luqi Huang at Capital Medical University in Beijing have reconstructed the complete biosynthetic pathway in baker\u2019s yeast. To do this, they made over 60 genetic edits and inserted 45 heterologous genes \u2013 sourced from plants, bacteriaand fungi \u2013 into the yeast genome.<\/p>\n
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The engineered yeast produces the immediate precursor to etoposide from glucose in a simple three-day fermentation process. By shifting the most stereochemically challenging step into a biological host, the team eliminated the need for tedious sugar-protection steps, hazardous reagents, and expensive catalysts. Once the precursor molecule is isolated from the yeast, a final acetalisation step yields etoposide at an impressive 89% yield, or teniposide at 65%.<\/p>\n