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OpiumPoppy

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Transgenic Crops VI

Part of the book series: Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry ((AGRICULTURE,volume 61))

Abstract

The medicinal use of opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) predates written history. Opium poppy was one of the first domesticated plant species and has undergone extensive breeding to enhance the accumulation of the pharmaceutical alkaloids morphine and codeine in the latex. Modern agricultural processes are used for the licit cultivation and harvesting of opium poppy straw. Concentrated poppy straw has replaced the production of dried latex, or opium, as the preferred source of licit opiates. The production of opium for the illicit synthesis of heroin remains a social and political concern. Although classic breeding methods have substantially increased the morphine and codeine content in opium poppy, biotechnological approaches based on a growing collection of alkaloid biosynthetic genes and effective genetic transformation protocols have recently been used to engineer novel plant varieties.

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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biosciences, Plant Sciences Division, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, LE12 5RD, Loughborough, UK

    Michael R. Davey

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© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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(2007). OpiumPoppy. In: Pua, EC., Davey, M. (eds) Transgenic Crops VI. Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry, vol 61. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71711-9_9

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