04-26-2014, 10:16 PM
Edible vaccines
The advancement in the application of genetic engineering concerning vaccination lies in the way it is performed. We are moving from the regular vaccines to edible ones. The basic principle behind them is that the proteins from a certain disease causing pathogen are present in the fruit we eat, for example, helping our immunity to improve. This can solve a lot of problems concerning the vaccination, especially since millions of people are dying because they do not have access to traditional vaccines.
Why edible vaccines?
The idea was started by Charles Arntzen at Texas A&M University with the intention to make vaccination more available to the whole world. Around 20% of world’s infants still do not receive six essential vaccines – against polio, measles, tetanus, tuberculosis, diphtheria and pertussis. With edible vaccines, this problem could be solved since they would be cheaper to produce and would not require refrigeration. Moreover, they could be grown locally and they could be regenerated indefinitely so the amount of vaccines would not be limited. This would also solve the problems of transportation to places. Another benefit of edible vaccines is that they are consumed orally instead of being injected, which would also solve the problem of potential infections that might arise.
Current research also suggests that using edible vaccines might help with the autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
The making of edible vaccine
One of the ways to produce edible vaccines is by using bacterium Abrobacterium tumefaciens which will carry our genes for antigen and ultimately deliver them into the plant cells.
- We must first have the bacteria which contain the plasmid with our gene of interest and antibiotic-resistance gene.
- The next step is to take the leaf of the plant, cut it and expose it to the bacteria (by putting it in bacterial suspension). This will allow the bacteria to deliver the genes into the plant cells.
- Then we should remove the cells that have not received the genes of interest by exposing the whole leaf to an antibiotic.
- After only transformed cells have survived, we should wait in order for the callus tissue to form (undifferentiated plant cells).
- The last thing to do is to cultivate plantlets and transform them to the soil where they will grow and produce our edible vaccine.
The advancement in the application of genetic engineering concerning vaccination lies in the way it is performed. We are moving from the regular vaccines to edible ones. The basic principle behind them is that the proteins from a certain disease causing pathogen are present in the fruit we eat, for example, helping our immunity to improve. This can solve a lot of problems concerning the vaccination, especially since millions of people are dying because they do not have access to traditional vaccines.
Why edible vaccines?
The idea was started by Charles Arntzen at Texas A&M University with the intention to make vaccination more available to the whole world. Around 20% of world’s infants still do not receive six essential vaccines – against polio, measles, tetanus, tuberculosis, diphtheria and pertussis. With edible vaccines, this problem could be solved since they would be cheaper to produce and would not require refrigeration. Moreover, they could be grown locally and they could be regenerated indefinitely so the amount of vaccines would not be limited. This would also solve the problems of transportation to places. Another benefit of edible vaccines is that they are consumed orally instead of being injected, which would also solve the problem of potential infections that might arise.
Current research also suggests that using edible vaccines might help with the autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
The making of edible vaccine
One of the ways to produce edible vaccines is by using bacterium Abrobacterium tumefaciens which will carry our genes for antigen and ultimately deliver them into the plant cells.
- We must first have the bacteria which contain the plasmid with our gene of interest and antibiotic-resistance gene.
- The next step is to take the leaf of the plant, cut it and expose it to the bacteria (by putting it in bacterial suspension). This will allow the bacteria to deliver the genes into the plant cells.
- Then we should remove the cells that have not received the genes of interest by exposing the whole leaf to an antibiotic.
- After only transformed cells have survived, we should wait in order for the callus tissue to form (undifferentiated plant cells).
- The last thing to do is to cultivate plantlets and transform them to the soil where they will grow and produce our edible vaccine.
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