A sample of estuarine mud taken 16 years ago has yielded a potential new class of painkiller as potent as opioids, but without their disadvantages.
Researchers from The University of Queensland and University of Sydney have filed a patent application for the potential drug, which is a modified version of a molecule found in a Penicillium fungus, and published their results in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.
Professor Rob Capon, from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience, said he and his team were investigating the chemistry of marine fungi, including a sample collected next to a boat ramp in Tasmania.
“We came across a fungus that yielded a new type of molecule which we named the bilaids, that I noticed were similar to endomorphins – natural peptides produced by the human body that activate opioid receptors and provide pain relief,” Professor Capon said.
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