Camptothecin (CPT) is an important anti-cancer molecule for high-value drugs such as topotecan and irinotecan and it is a potent inhibitor of topoisomerase I.

Camptothecin is commercially extracted in India from Nothapodytes nimmoniana, an endangered plant. Due to overexploitation to meet market demand, the main plant source here is now listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

Considering the importance of facilitating the development of this drug, researchers at the Plant Cell Technology Laboratory at IIT Madras developed a genome-scale metabolic model for N nimoniana plant cells. These cells are grown using computer tools.

The research model resulted in the development of an N. nimmoniana cell line with a camptothecin yield 5 times higher than that of an untransformed plant cell line.