DW: The weekend just got started a day early!
If this ever gets loose from the lab, the street value will be incredible. Scientists at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science have engineered a tobacco plant that can produce five different psychedelic compounds at the same time. The plant grows psilocin and psilocybin, the active ingredients in magic mushrooms, as well as DMT from the ayahuasca plant, and two compounds secreted by the Sonoran Desert toad; the research was published in the journal "Science Advances."
The goal is not recreational but scientific, as researchers hope this kind of plant-based production could offer a more sustainable and humane way to make these compounds for potential medical use. Psychedelic research has been growing, with studies suggesting some of these substances could help treat depression and other conditions. The current concentrations the plants produce are too low for practical use, and the team intentionally stopped short of making the traits hereditary to prevent uncontrolled spread.
Source: Futurism