Posted on 12/11/2018 6:31:31 AM PST by BenLurkin
The substance that triggers this state of feline ecstasy is called nepetalactone, a type of chemical called a terpene. This simple, small molecule is part of an unusual chain of events, not previously seen by chemists.
The researchers believe that understanding the production of these nepetalactones could help them recreate the way that plants synthesise other chemicals like vinblastine, which is used for chemotherapy. This could lead to the ability to create these useful medicines more efficiently and quickly than we are currently able to harvest them from nature.
Usually in plants, for example peppermint, terpenes are formed by a single enzyme. In their paper published online this week in Nature Chemical Biology, the researchers report that in catnip terpenes are formed in a two-step process; an enzyme activates a precursor compound which is then grabbed by a second enzyme to produce the substance of interest.
This two-step process has previously never been observed, and the researchers also expect something similar is occurring in the synthesis of anti-cancer drugs vincristine and vinblastine from Madagascan periwinkle, Catharanthus roseus, and elsewhere in olive and snapdragon.
In the publication, the team describe the process by which catmint produces nepetalactone in microscopic glands on the underside of its leaves. The study also identifies three new enzymes with unusual activity.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Ah hah! A terpene is the cause of feline turpitude!
Will it work in womannip?
This is great news!.........If the process can be duplicated in a lab, then scaled up to factory levels, mass producing cancer healing drugs!......................
My Kitty is crazy enough
Doesn’t need any help
Hope my tomcat doesn’t see this.
Knowing him, he’ll put up a catnip lab in my house.
:: Will it work in womannip? ::
And will it work in man-nip to cause “tergitude”?
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Cannabis is loaded with terpenes. They sell soil additives to increase them.
I have to protect my catnp in a cage. Their used to be a lunatic tomcat around that would roll on the plants until they were a smooth spot in the dirt.
I recently gave one of cats catnip for the first time,, he hasnt been the same since..
tore it up ..
Can they modify it to make regular mint intoxicating to humans?
Ours hardly give it notice. They do like to sit out in the herb garden though.
“Will it work in womannip?”
It’s called chocolate.
More proof we need drug laws. Cats were once productive members of society, now all they want to do is lay about gettin stoned on the nip!
Or, in my case, my hubby.
Most of the cats I’ve dealt with were indifferent to it. That particular tom was a real menace. The hummingbirds like it, though.
The plants are good and skunky in the sun.
I have read that feeding catnip to a dog is a good tranquilizer for them. Wonder if this is the ingredient that provides that service.
Not all cats react to catnip. Seems odd if it’s a chemical reaction. You’d think that they’d all respond, though perhaps to different degrees.
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