Kava is a South Pacific island root used for eons in beverages drunk at ceremonies and for everything from relaxation to sleep. Now it’s yielding some of its secrets in the lab — and could end up yielding a pill with similar effects.
It's work they say could help lead to new treatments for"What we do in our lab is to actually start from plants that have thousands of years of use in traditional medicine," says Jing-Ke Weng, a biology professor and member of MIT's Whitehead Institute."So we already know there's something in that plant that works to treat some illness, and we just need to find it."
The Weng lab method is to analyze kava's complex genetics and metabolism, clone key genes, engineer them into bacteria, and brew up mass-produced quantities of kavalactones.So are the fish more relaxed?"Actually, they are," he says, laughing. Telltale signs: They're hiding less and clinging less to the walls of their tanks, he says.
Dr. Vincent Lebot, a leading expert on kava who's based on the Pacific island of Vanuatu, calls the Weng lab's new research"very valuable work scientifically, very fascinating." "In the evening, you could have a pill of kavalactones if you want," he says,"but to me, it sounds more interesting to have the natural beverage, kava, which will produce the same effect."
As animals, he says,"we do well because we developed muscles, and we have brains, so we can actively move around. Plants have to do it passively, so they do everything through chemistry."
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