In a new study, the Papaver rhoeas (poppy family) self-incompatibility system has been transferred into Arabidopsis thaliana, a distantly related plant with a very different floral structure. The simple poppy self-incompatibility system may finally make it possible to introduce this potentially valuable trait into any plant.

IN the January, 1872, number of the Indian Medical Gazette is an article on "Opium," written by Dr. Moore, wherein that gentleman states that, from personal observation, he arrives at the conclusion, " that opium-eating when moderately indulged in?as it generally is?produces no decided or even appreciable ill effect." Moreover, that the use of opium, under certain circumstances, is beneficial. ...

are familiar, indeed, with these effects, but there is something very remarkable in them. That ease should be procured by the juice of a poppy! that the wonderful mind should be influenced by a cause so apparently insignificant I The great John Hunter exclaimed, Thank God for opium! and it is an undoubted blessing that the Creator should have permitted such an antidote to the sufferings ot mank...

This paper examines the recent growth of the opium economy in North Eastern Afghanistan. A detailed analysis of one village in Badakshan Province reveals profound changes in the local economy and social institutions. The paper describes two major shifts in the local economy (1) the switch from wheat to poppy cultivation (2) the shift from the livestock trade to the opium trade. It then examines...

Papaver species are known to produce a large variety of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, with each species exhibiting a specific alkaloid profile, but only a few genes involved in the biosynthesis or regulation of these complex pathways are known so far. Here we used a genomic approach to discover genes responsible for the determination of a specific alkaloid profile. A stem expressed sequence tag...