Mice (and possibly humans) make their own morphine

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research has confirmed that mice have the biochemical pathways required to manufacture morphine from intermediates. Morphine is a powerful drug usually derived from the opium poppy, but scientists have long speculated animals may be able to synthesize it, especially as they have brain receptors responding specifically to morphine. Tetrahydropapaveroline (THP) and other alkaloid precursors of morphine have been discovered in brain tissue and urine, but until now animal studies were largely inconclusive because of the difficulty of excluding environmental contaminants. The new research gives more conclusive evidence that excludes the possibility of contamination.

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