Scientists Engineered Tobacco Plants to Produce Five Mind-Altering Psychedelic Compounds

The substances have been used by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, but they’ve recently become popular as possible therapeutics for mental health conditions

Sara Hashemi - Daily Correspondent

April 7, 2026



Tobacco plants make a lot of the amino acid tryptophan, the basis of many psychoactive compounds. Alfian Widiantono via Getty Images

Nature can be pretty trippy, with mind-altering psychedelics coming from all sorts of wild sources. Certain mushrooms produce psilocybin, some plants contain DMT and a toad species secretes bufotenin and 5-methoxy-DMT.

Now, scientists have engineered tobacco plants to temporarily produce five psychoactive compounds that are normally made by other plants, fungi and animals. The breakthrough, described April 1 in the journal Science Advances, could lead to more sustainable and efficient manufacturing and harvesting of psychedelics. That would make it easier for scientists to study their therapeutic uses, since past research has suggested that psychedelics can help treat certain mental health conditions.

“This is exciting work,” Andrew Jones, a bioengineer at Miami University who was not involved in the study, tells Erik Stokstad at Science. While he suspects that microbes, rather than tobacco, will be the best route for large-scale production of psychedelics, he says the findings could inform the manufacture of psychoactive medications for severe depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress.

Indigenous peoples have used psychedelics for medicinal, religious and other purposes for thousands of years. For instance, the DMT-containing brew ayahuasca, made with plants, has long been part of traditional Amazonian rituals. And many Indigenous groups in Mesoamerica have relied on “magic mushrooms” with psilocybin to aid in spiritual guidance.

More recently, scientists have grown interested in studying these compounds for therapeutic uses in Western medicine. But harvesting plants, fungi and animals that naturally produce psychoactive compounds raises ecological and ethical concerns, and many of these species are threatened by habitat loss and overexploitation. Some psychedelics can be made in the lab, but synthesizing them requires several steps and specific materials, and the process can create unwanted byproducts.

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-engineered-tobacco-plants-to-produce-five-mind-altering-psychedelic-compounds-180988488/