Jake Wintermute at Harvard University is on his way to using synthetic biology to make lysergic acid, a precursor to LSD, reports Ian Sample at the Guardian. Lysergic acid is also used to make certain medications. Wintermute gave an update on his work at the Synthetic Biology 5 meeting at Stanford University, and said that though he is not yet making lysergic acid, he has inserted two of the six needed biochemical pathways into yeast.