Plants as psychedelic factories

Researchers engineered a tobacco relative (Nicotiana benthamiana) to produce five different psychedelic tryptamines at once, and even modified enzymes to make novel analogs. This demonstrates that whole‑plant chassis can be repurposed to manufacture controlled psychoactive compounds, not just single metabolites. — If scalable, plant‑based production upends existing supply chains for research and therapeutic psychedelics, posing regulatory, conservation, and biosecurity challenges that policymakers and health agencies must address.