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Osbourn had earlier teased out the many enzymatic steps involved in the soapbark tree's production of natural QS-21.

Earlier this year, Osbourn and Keasling published the complete 20-step process by which the soapbark tree makes QS-21, reconstituted in tobacco.

A valuable molecule sourced from the soapbark tree and used as a key ingredient in vaccines, has been replicated in an alternative plant host for the first time, opening unprecedented opportunities for the vaccine industry.

Professor Anne Osbourn FRS, group leader at the John Innes Centre said: "Our study opens unprecedented opportunities for bioengineering vaccine adjuvants. We can now investigate and improve these compounds to promote the human immune response to vaccines and produce QS-21 in a way which does not depend on extraction from the soapbark tree."

QS-21, a potent adjuvant, is sourced directly from the bark of the soapbark tree, raising concerns about the environmental sustainability of its supply.