Molecular Farming Means the Next Vaccine Could be Edible and Grown in a Plant
upstart writes:
Molecular Farming Means the Next Vaccine Could Be Edible and Grown in a Plant:
It's the dog days of summer. You bite down on a plump, chilled orange. Citrus juice explodes in your mouth in a refreshing, tingling burst. Ahh.
And congratulations-you've just been vaccinated for the latest virus.
That's one of the goals of molecular farming, a vision to have plants synthesize medications and vaccines. Using genetic engineering and synthetic biology, scientists can introduce brand new biochemical pathways into plant cells-or even whole plants-essentially turning them into single-use bioreactors.
The whole idea has a retro-futuristic science fiction vibe. First conceived of in 1986, molecular farming got its boost three decades later, when the FDA approved the first-and only-plant-derived therapeutic protein for humans to treat Gaucher disease, a genetic disorder that prevents people from breaking down fats.
But to Drs. Hugues Fausther-Bovendo and Gary Kobinger at Universite Laval, Quebec and Galveston National Laboratory, Texas, respectively, we're just getting started. In a new perspective article published last week in Science, the duo argues that plants have long been an overlooked resource for biomanufacturing.
[...] Molecular farming could have a considerable impact on both human and animal health," the authors said.
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