homehome Home chatchat Notifications


These Students Found a Way to Grow Ozempic in Plants

Their breakthrough could one day let you grow lifesaving drugs in your backyard.

Tibi Puiu
March 24, 2025 @ 4:27 pm

share Share

Gloved hand interacting with plant that produces semaglutide
The scientists achieved sustainable semaglutide production amid Ozempic shortage. Photo: Amelia Adams

Victor Boddy wasn’t expecting to reinvent pharmaceutical manufacturing before graduation. But as drug shortages made headlines and increasingly more patients scrambled to find their medications, he and a group of University of Ottawa classmates decided to try something audacious: grow medicine — literally — in a plant.

Their project, called Phytogene, harnesses the power of “biopharming” — a method that transforms plants into living drug factories. In one of their experiments, they successfully produced the compounds used in the wonder weight loss drug Ozempic inside the tobacco plant.

Now, with the world watching, these young scientists are refining their system. They believe it could one day offer a low-cost, sustainable alternative to traditional drug production — maybe even allowing people to grow essential medications in their own backyards.

A “Plant-Based Printer” for Medicine

The idea was born out of frustration. Last year, shortages of Ozempic left diabetes patients without medication, while soaring prices put the drug out of reach for many. Boddy, a fourth-year biotechnology student and one of the project’s leaders, saw an opportunity.

“Inspired by the recent Ozempic shortage, we built a proof-of-concept model system that expresses functional GLP-1 agonists in plants,” he said. “We aim to create a future where people can reliably grow their own treatments at home, free from concerns about insurance, cost, or availability.”

The team used Nicotiana benthamiana, a fast-growing leafy cousin of tobacco often used in genetic research. By inserting custom DNA sequences, they turned the plant into a biological copy machine, churning out peptides that mimic Ozempic’s key ingredient. This includes GLP-1 receptor agonists (semaglutide), the same class of drugs used in Ozempic. Originally developed to treat type II diabetes, GLP-1 drugs mimic the body’s natural signals of fullness. They’ve since become wildly popular for their weight-loss effects.

“With our ‘plug-and-play’ design, we can incorporate any peptide sequence into the plant genome,” the team explained on their website. “The plant’s molecular machinery then transcribes and translates our peptide in impressive quantities.”

From The Lab to Global Impact

The iGEM team from the University of Ottawa
The iGEM team from the University of Ottawa. Credit: University of Ottawa.

The project recently won a gold medal at the prestigious iGEM competition, a synthetic biology event in Paris, where it stood out among 430 international teams. But the students see this as just the beginning.

Teagan Thomas, the project’s co-leader, emphasized the broader implications. “Phytogene offers a unique, sustainable approach to biotechnology by providing an environmentally friendly solution to the critical crisis of medication access,” she said.

Beyond Ozempic, the method could be adapted for other drugs, from insulin to cancer treatments. The team has already released an open-source toolkit, allowing other researchers to build on their work.

Still, challenges remain. The plant-derived drug hasn’t been tested in humans yet. The team is now analyzing its effects on blood sugar and insulin levels in lab models. “We are currently analyzing blood glucose and insulin levels to assess response,” Thomas said. “We also plan to conduct bioactivity assays to test the drug’s effectiveness on human cells.”

If successful, Phytogene could reshape how medicines are made — turning gardens into pharmacies.

share Share

Scientists Just Found the Clearest Evidence Yet That Lucid Dreaming Is a Real State of Consciousness

People who are aware they are dreaming show distinct brain patterns.

Drug Regenerates Retina and Restores Vision in Blind Mice

A protein hidden in our eyes may be the reason we can't repair lost vison.

This Stretchy Battery Still Works After Being Twisted, Punctured, and Cut in Half

Not the most energy dense but its ability to withstand abuse is unparalleled.

The UAE Wants AI to Write Its Laws — What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

But can machines really grasp justice, fairness, and human rights?

Scientists Invent a Color Humans Have Never Seen Before

Meet "olo": a vivid, hyper-saturated blue-green that can't be captured by screens or paint.

This Chewing Gum Can Destroy 95 Percent of Flu and Herpes Viruses

Viruses had enough fun in our mouths, it's time to wipe them out.

Conservative people in the US distrust science way more broadly than previously thought

Even chemistry gets side-eye now. Trust in science is crumbling across America's ideology.

We Could One Day Power a Galactic Civilization with Spinning Black Holes

Could future civilizations plug into the spin of space-time itself?

Scientists filmed wild chimpanzees sharing alcohol-laced fermented fruit for the first time and it looks eerily familiar

New footage suggests our primate cousins may have their own version of happy hour.

China’s Humanoid Robots Stumble, Break Down, and Finish the World’s First Robot Half Marathon

Bipedal bots compete with humans in first half-marathon race — with a bit of help from duct tape.