Tobacco has been recognized as a severe health risk for many years, killing an estimated 8 million individuals annually globally.
Researchers are currently investigating the use of tobacco to develop life-saving drugs through genetic modification — and the implications could be groundbreaking.
Tobacco’s history with medicine is not a new one. Tobacco has been used for hundreds of years by the native inhabitants of the Americas to heal headaches, colds, sores, and digestive ailments. As European travelers initially brought tobacco home from the Americas during the 16th century, it immediately became fashionable as a cure-all throughout Europe.
Tobacco was also used in the 18th century as a remedy for drowning victims. There were special tobacco smoke enema kits stored along the Thames River in London. The theory was that the smoke would heat and revive the individual — although this practice was more shocking than effective.
Despite its early use in medicine, tobacco’s harmful effects became clear over time. But now, modern science could give tobacco a new and surprising role in healthcare.
How can Tobacco be used for medicine?
Most new medicines have their origins in plants. To give just a couple of examples, the medicine Taxol for chemotherapy is extracted from yew trees, while the heart medication Digoxin is obtained from foxglove plants. Such drugs are based on uncomplicated molecules. However, more complex drugs — such as insulin and vaccines — are more difficult to make since they need sophisticated genetic engineering.
Today, complicated medicines are manufactured through recombinant technology. Scientists hybridize genetic material from one organism with another (usually bacteria, yeast, or animal cells) to produce new proteins. The altered cells are then cultured in massive, sterile bioreactors. This is extremely costly — to build the equipment required will take approximately $2 billion (₹16,600 crore). This expensiveness makes these treatments out of reach, particularly in low-income nations.
This is where tobacco enters. Researchers have learned that tobacco may be genetically altered to make intricate medicines, as bacteria or animal cells do — but much less expensively. Tobacco plants simply require soil, water, and sunlight to develop, so they are much cheaper to keep compared to bioreactors.
Why Tobacco is perfect for the job
Tobacco is an ideal choice for genetic engineering because it’s fast-growing, easy to modify, and produces large amounts of protein. It can grow in many different environments, making it accessible to farmers worldwide.
Actually, tobacco has already proven to be quite successful. In 2012, Canadian firm Medicago grew more than 10 million doses of the flu vaccine in one month from tobacco. As the global capacity to produce vaccines stands at about 40 million doses a month, this was a huge breakthrough.
Tobacco-derived therapies for diseases such as HIV and Ebola have already reached clinical trials. During the Ebola outbreak of 2014, a tobacco-derived treatment received emergency clearance in the U.S. to be administered to healthcare workers infected with the virus. Tobacco-derived medications are even being used to test cancer therapies, providing a potentially lower-cost, more efficient alternative to standard chemotherapy.
Tobacco farming:
The global decline in smoking is a piece of good news for public health, but it is a financial challenge for tobacco farmers — particularly in low-income nations where tobacco is a major crop. Redirection of tobacco to the production of medicines could give such farmers a sustainable future while making life-saving drugs more affordable and accessible.
Tobacco has done unprecedented damage to human health throughout the centuries. But through the technology of genetic engineering, it might be turned into a healer instead of a harm-doer. If scientists can successfully convert tobacco into a hub for the manufacture of medicines, it might revolutionize global healthcare — making lifesaving drugs affordable and accessible to everyone.
[Source: Cathy Moore, “Tobacco’s hidden friendly side: how the controversial plant could be used for good”, The Conversation]
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