Thailand-RIS | iGEM 2024

Approximately 2 to 4 percent of the Thai population aged 60 years and over is suffering from Alzheimer's

As of now, Alzheimer’s disease can be treated with galantamine, a neurotransmitter-destroying drug; however, it costs about 4,000 Thai baht monthly. When combined with other medical expenses and a possible caregiver, expenses might range from 20,000 to 40,000 baht per month, which can be overwhelming for a low-income family.

We are the IGEM team Thailand-RIS, and we aim to solve this problem by developing a more sustainable and less resource-heavy way to produce puerarin which is a valuable supplement that has a wide range of benefits, including antioxidative and neuroprotective properties. The active component is a phytoestrogen similar to the estrogen hormone!

With synthetic biology, we can relocate the production of all the key enzymes involved in the isoflavonoid biosynthetic pathway for puerarin into Nicotiana benthamiana, which is less time-consuming and more sustainable to grow, making this medication more accessible to those who need it.

The Thailand-RIS team aims to make neurodegenerative disease treatments more accessible by developing a sustainable method for producing puerarin, a neuroprotective supplement. Currently, puerarin production is costly and labor-intensive. The team wants to make puerarin production more cost-effective by transferring the isoflavonoid pathway responsible for producing puerarin from its native plant, Pueraria lobata v. mirifica, to a more sustainable and less resource-intensive plant like Nicotiana benthamiana.