Mice can synthesize their own morphine, research shows
Thursday, May 6, 2010 - 17:40
in Biology & Nature
Traces of morphine in urine samples have been considered a clear proof of drug use or the consumption of food containing poppy in the past. Now a study by a team of scientists in Germany and the U.S. points to another possible explanation: they managed for the first time to prove that mice -- and probably humans and other mammals as well -- produce their own morphine in their bodies.