Transgenic Plants for Smallpox Vaccine Production
April 12, 2007| |
A team of scientists from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA, have reported the successful production of a smallpox vaccine in transgenic tobacco plants, shown to protect mice and minipigs against infection. Smallpox, caused by the Variola virus, is a highly contagious disease unique to humans that can be lethal. These results indicate the feasibility of producing safe and inexpensive subunit vaccines by using plant production systems. Advantages of vaccine production in plants include reduced production costs; large production scale; product safety; and the possibility of oral administration.
The abstract of the article “Smallpox subunit vaccine produced in planta confers protection in mice” published this week in PNAS can be viewed at
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0701451104v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10
&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Koprowski&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
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