Asia Tech Wire (Jan 26) -- Chinese scientists have achieved breakthrough in biosynthesis of anticancer drug paclitaxel.

The top international academic journal Science published online early Friday the latest research results of Chinese scientist Jianbin Yan in collaboration with Professor Xiaoguang Lei of Peking University and others, "Characterization and heterologous reconstitution of Taxus biosynthetic enzymes leading to baccatin III."

The study discovered two missing key enzymes "T9αH" and "TOT" in the biosynthetic pathway of paclitaxel, and elucidated the mechanism of formation of the key structural molecule - paclitaxel oxetane, and opened up the complex paclitaxel biosynthetic pathway.

According to Chinese media The Paper, this research marks China's leading position in the theory and technology of synthetic biology of paclitaxel in the world, and paves the way for the industrialisation of green manufacturing of paclitaxel in China.