A poppy plant that is difficult to extract morphine from? That is what scientists at the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow, have developed in order to combat abuse of drugs produced from poppy.

The new poppy variety is the first of its kind in the world, claim scientists who have been working on it for the past seven years.

“Unlike the original poppy plants, easy extraction of morphine is not possible from the new variety developed at our institute,” Ashutosh K. Shukla, a senior scientist at the institute, told IANS.

Unlike poppy plants that give out a sap from which morphine is extracted, latex formation does not take place in the new variety, he explained.

For his work “Functional genomics approach towards development of non-narcotic poppy”, Shukla received the Bio-talent Award at the recently-held Bangalore Bio-2008 biotech event.

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