Interdisciplinary strategies to uncover the missing enzymes and regulatory machinery in the biosynthesis of paclitaxel

Plants produce a vast array of secondary metabolites that can be exploited for biomedicine. Since the 1940s 73% of anticancer drugs have been natural products and most of these trace their origins to plant sources (1). However, there in vitro chemical synthesis is routinely not commercially viable and the relevant biochemical pathways remain opaque. Further, the plant source may not be domesticated, is typically slow growing, with a limited population and the concentration of target molecules is routinely extremely low (2).