SCIENCE LAB SPECIAL : GRAPEFRUIT

 

' Course of Action. ' Grapefruit goes badly with some medications. But scientists may be able to solve that.

You may be among the millions of people who have seen a surprisingly specific warning like this on the labels of drugs you take : Avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice while using this medication.

Such warnings are issued for dozens of substances, including docetaxel, a cancer drug ; erythromycin, an antibiotic; and some statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs prescribed to more than a third of American adults over 40.

The problem is a set of molecules, furanocoumarins. High levels of Furanocoumarins interfere with human liver enzymes, among other processes. In their presence, medications can build up to unhealthy levels in the body. And grapefruits and some related citrus fruits are full of them.

There is no such warning for other kinds of citrus, such as mandarins and other oranges. And researchers at the Volcani Center in Israel report that by crossing mandarins and grapefruit, they've uncovered genes that produce furanocoumarins in some citrus fruits.

It's a finding that opens the possibility of creating grapefruit that doesn't require a warning label.

Scientists worked out the compounds' structures years ago and placed together a basic flowchart of how they are made. But the precise identities of enzymes catalyzing the process remained mysterious.

Now, gene editing technology may be able to produce grapefruit without furanocoumarins. [ Veronique Greenwood ]