Literature Network » Oliver Wendell Holmes

Working to transform tobacco from herbal equivalent of Public Enemy No. 1 into candidate for Man's Best Friend. (Originated from Knight-Ridder Newspapers)

Content courtesy of

From: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
Date: 19940803
Author:Schmitz, Tom

    To Elizabethan Robert Burton, tobacco was ``a plague, a mischief ... devilish and damned.'' Oliver Wendell Holmes, the 19th century jurist, condemned it as ``the filthy weed.'' 
    Today, just as the latest campaign against tobacco reaches a fever pitch, genetic engineers are exploring techniques that could redeem the plant's reputation, transforming it from the herbal equivalent of Public Enemy No. 1 into a candidate for Man's Best Friend. 
    Biotechnology researchers say tobacco plants are the ideal biological factory for manufacturing everything from new drugs and vaccines to food ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Other Articles on Oliver Wendell Holmes

About Our Articles: We've partnered with Highbeam Research to provide these article excerpts for your research needs. However, due to copyright laws, we cannot publish the whole article. To view these articles in full length you'll need to use the link above to access the free trial at Highbeam.