Transgenic plants as factories for biopharmaceuticals

Abstract

Plants have considerable potential for the production of biopharmaceutical proteins and peptides because they are easily transformed and provide a cheap source of protein. Several biotechnology companies are now actively developing, field testing, and patenting plant expression systems, while clinical trials are proceeding on the first biopharmaceuticals derived from them. One transgenic plant-derived biopharmaceutical, hirudin, is now being commercially produced in Canada for the first time. Product purification is potentially an expensive process, and various methods are currently being developed to overcome this problem, including oleosin-fusion technology, which allows extraction with oil bodies. In some cases, delivery of a biopharmaceutical product by direct ingestion of the modified plant potentially removes the need for purification. Such biopharmaceuticals and edible vaccines can be stored and distributed as seeds, tubers, or fruits, making immunization programs in developing countries cheaper and potentially easier to administer. Some of the most expensive biopharmaceuticals of restricted availability, such as glucocerebrosidase, could become much cheaper and more plentiful through production in transgenic plants.

Metabolomics — the link between genotypes and phenotypes

“…enhancing the nutritional value of foods, decreasing the need for pesticide or fertilizer application, etc.) or into pathways needed for the production of pharmaceuticals in plants (Giddings et al, 2000). Other fields of applications are less obvious.…”

Edible Vaccines: An Advancement in Oral Immunization

“…Measles virus hemagglutinin (MV-H) from edmonston strain antigen was selected for the development of an EV, which can be transformed into tobacco plant by plasmid/vector. It was also reported that mice fed with tobacco expressing MV-H could attain antibody titers 5 times the level considered protective for humans and they also demonstrated secretory IgA in their feces [19,[58][59][60].…”

Feasibility Study of Rice Growth in Plant Factories

“…Other plants have also been used, including rice [11,19,20], wheat [20], maize [21] and oilseed rape [22][23][24], since it is considered that full-scale commercial production could involve grain and oilseed crops. The production of vaccines, antibodies and biopharmaceuticals in transgenic plants has been summarized in a previous review article [14]. Recently, in Japan, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) plant factory grows strawberries that have been implanted with canine interferon genes and uses these specially modified strawberries to manufacture a treatment for canine periodontal disease for dogs (http://www.aist.…”

“…Producing therapeutic proteins in plants has many economic and qualitative benefits, including reduced health risks from pathogen contamination, comparatively high yields and production in seeds or other storage organs [11]. Trials to produce useful products in genetically-modified plants have been done [13][14][15][16][17], with some already commercialized. It has been called 'molecular farming' .…”