Scientists solve 200-year-old puzzle of how tobacco plants make nicotine

>The team, which included researchers from the University of Copenhagen, discovered that nicotine is initially formed attached to a glucose molecule, which is added to give its building blocks the energy boost they need to snap together. However, the glucose is removed at the final step, appearing to vanish. This hidden step explains why the mystery endured for so long.

>Benjamin Schwabe, a University of York PhD student and first author of the study, also discovered the exact structures of two special plant enzymes – NaGR and NicGS – that help assemble the nicotine molecule from smaller pieces.

We’re one step closer to Tomacco

Is this discovery somehow useful in making future cigarettes safer?