Author(s): István Ujváry
The biochemical machinery of plants generates a broad range of chemicals to aid survival in a competitive
environment. For mankind, these natural products have been, from time immemorial, sources of bioactive
substances used not only to heal or provide support in daily work but also to escape from life’s harsh realities. The
isolation of the alkaloid morphine from opium by Sertrner (1805) laid the foundation of phytochemistry and modern
pharmacy. Since then, research on opioids led to the discovery of endogenous opioid peptides and their receptors in
the 1970s.
