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Biochemical breakthrough paves way to reliable supply of anticancer drug

‘Missing’ genes needed for the biosynthesis of a natural anticancer drug have been discovered by perturbing and analysing individual cells of yew trees.
By
  1. Jakob Franke

    1. Jakob Franke is at Leibniz University Hannover, Institute of Botany, 30419 Hanover, Germany.

The anticancer drug paclitaxel is one of the most valuable substances produced by plants. However, isolating it in sufficient quantities for use in medicine from the yew trees (Taxus spp.) that produce it has been a major challenge1. Writing in Nature, McClune et al.2 report a breakthrough in our understanding of the genes responsible for the biological production of this drug. The findings are a major leap forward in efforts to secure a reliable supply of paclitaxel.

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Nature 643, 339-340 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01458-5

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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