Japanese scientists announced that they isolated a gene, which carries the nicotine from the roots of the tobacco plant leaves, thus opening the way for the creation of cigarettes without nicotine, which is less addictive, but it will remind regular cigarette. The research done by Professor Kazoufoumi Giazaki, molecular biologist, in plants, at the University of Kyoto, which took three years to identify the gene Nt-JAT1, which is the carrier of nicotine.
As stated, according to British newspaper Daily Telegraph, the objective now is to create a cigarette that has always known the taste, but it is much less addictive.
The next step will be to grow tobacco plants that will not have any nicotine in the leaves, but admits that there are still open issues to be resolved, for example, the possibility of blocking the transfer of nicotine in leaves lead to concentration of cells in the roots, which could be toxic to the plant itself.
Japan has a relatively high percentage of smokers, with rates around 40% in men and 13% in women, according to data of 2008. According to government statistics, more than 63,000 people die each year in the country of lung cancer. Professor Giazaki, he is not a smoker, hopes his investigation will try to help people stop smoking. The scientist, in order to finance his experiments, did not rule to require the assistance of Japan Tobacco, the largest Japanese tobacco.
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