December 2014 John Weeks Integrator Round-Up: Research

by John Weeks, Publisher Editor of The Integrator Blog News & Reports   Not Exactly What We Anticipated Department NCCAM GMOs Yeast into Opioids  In a November 18, 2014 newsletter, the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) announced that

by John Weeks, Publisher/Editor of The Integrator Blog News & Reports

Not Exactly What We Anticipated Department: NCCAM GMOs Yeast into Opioids

In a November 18, 2014 newsletter, the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) announced that Stanford researchers funded in part by NCCAM discovered that yeast, genetically modified, can "brew opioids and other opioid drugs." The researchers argue that “turning microbes into mini-factories” may remove dependencies on uncertain farming and political cycles.

Comment:  A person wise to NIH predilections might assume that the funding of research on the “modalities, systems and disciplines” associated with complementary and alternative therapies would come to this; still, I mean really, is drug development the highest and best use for those precious few NCCAM dollars? That being said, since self-activation is one pathway for a person in pain to begin to find means to reduce dependence on painkillers, this project may have an unexpected positive outcome as patients with pain rise up to demand “No GMO Opioids!”