MOLECULAR FARMING

SUNIL KUMAR M

DEFINITION

"Molecular farming" is the production ofproteins or other metabolites valuable tomedicine or industry in plants traditionallyused in an agricultural setting.

Molecular farming is the production ofpharmaceutically important andcommercially valuable proteins in plants(Franken et al., 1997).

BRIEF HISTORYYear Development Reference

1986 First plant -derived recombinanttherapeutic protein- human GH intobacco & sunflower

A. Barta, D. Thompson et al.,

1989 First plant -derived recombinant antibody –full-sized IgG in tobacco.

A. Hiatt, K. Bowdish

1990 First native human protein produced in plants –human serum albumin in tobacco & potato.

P. C. Sijmons et al.

1992 First plant derived vaccine candidate –hepatitis B virus surface antigen in tobacco

H. S. Meson, D. M. Lam

1995 Secretory IgA produced in tobacco. J. K. Ma, A. Hiatt, M. Hein et al.

1996 First plant derived protein polymer-artificial elastin in tobacco

X. Zhang, D. W. Urry, H. Daniel

BRIEF HISTORYYear Development Reference

1997 First clinical trial using recombinantbacterial antigen delivered in atransgenic potato

C. O. Tacket et al.

1997 Commercial production of avidin in maize

E. E. Hood et al.

2000 Human GH produced in tobacco chloroplast

J. M. Staub et al.

2003 Expression and assembly of a functional antibody in algae.

S. P. Mayfield, S. E. Franklin et al.

2003 Commercial production of bovine trypsin in maize.

S. L. Woodard et al.

WHY PLANTS

According to Horn et al., 2004 Significantly lower production costs than with

transgenic animals, fermentation or bioreactors; Infrastructure and expertise already exists for the

planting, harvesting and processing of plant material;

Plants do not contain known human pathogens (such as virions, etc.) That could contaminate the final product;

Plant cells can direct proteins to environments that reduce degradation and therefore increase stability.

SOME OF PLANTS USED FOR BIOPHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTION

Sl No Category Plants used

1 Model plant Arabidopsis thaliana

2 Leafy crops Tobacco, lettuce, alfalfa, clover

3 Cereals Maize, rice, wheat, barley

4 Legumes Soybean, pea, pigeon pea

5 Fruits and vegetables Potato, carrot, tomato, banana

6 Oil crops Oilseed Rape Seed, Camelina sativa

7 Simple plants Lemna sp. Physcomitrella patens, Marchantiapolymorpha, Chlamidomonas reinhardtii

Sibila Jelaska et al. 2005

RECOMBINANT PROTIENS EXPRESSED IN PLANTS

According to Horn et al., 2004

Parental Therapeutics and Pharmaceutical Intermediates

Antibody in plants

Edible Vaccines

Industrial proteins

EDIBLE VACCINES

Concept of edible vaccine got impetus after expression of hepatitis B surface antigen in tobacco plants (Mason et al., 1992)

The first reported edible vaccine was a surface protein from streptococcus expressed in tobacco leaves. (Mason and Arntzen, 1995)

Examples of edible vaccines

Vaccines Vector used Disease /conditions for which it is used

Hepatitis B Virus Tobacco, Potato, Lettuce Hepatitis B

Norwalk virus Tobacco, Potato Diarrhoea, Nausea,

Rabies virus Tabacco Rabies

Transmissible gastroenteritisCorona virus

Tobacco, Maize Gastroenteritis

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus

Potato Hemorrhage

HIV virus Tomato AIDS

Vibrio cholerae Potato Cholera

Neeraj et al. (2008)

RISKS, CONCERNS AND ISSUES

potential gene flow to weeds or related crops through pollination or seed contamination (Horn et al., 2004).

PDMs accidentally entering the food chain and being consumed by non-target organisms (Breyer et al., 2012).

A major concern for many developing countries is the lack of bio-safety legislation for genetically modified plants (Salehi, 2012).

Conclusion

References

Breyer, D, De Schrin, Gossens, M., Pauwels, K., Heeman, P. (2012) Biosafety of molecular farming in GM plants. Springer. 259-274.

Franken, E., Teuschel, U. And Hain, R. (1997) Recombinant Proteins from trangenic plants. Curr. Opin. Biotech. Vol. 7 : 171-181.

Horn, M. E., Woodard, S. L and Howard J. A (2004). Plant molecular farming: systems and products. Plant Cell. Rep. Vol. 22: 711-720.

Jelaska S, Mihaljeric S and Bauer N. (2005). Production of biopharmaceuticals, antibodies and edible vaccines in transgenic plants. Current studies of biotechnology. Vol. 4.

References

Mason H. S., and Arntzen, C. J. (1995). Transgenic plants as vaccine production systems. Trends Biotechnol. Vol. 13. 388-392.

Mason H. S., Lam D. M. K., and Arntzen C. J. (1992). Expression of Hepatitis B surface antigen in transgenic plants. Proc. Wall. Acad. Sci. USA. Vol. 89, 11747-11749.

Neeraj M., Prem N. G., Kapil K, Amit K. G., and Suresh P. V., (2008). Edible vaccines: A new approach to oral immunization. Ind. Jor. Of Biotech. Vol. 7. 283-294.

Rishi A. S, Nelson N. D, Goyal A. (2001) Molecular Farming in plants: A current perspective. Journal of plant biotechnology and biochemistry. Vol. 10(1). p. 1-12.

Salehi J. G., (2012) Risk assessment of GM crops; regulation and science. Boisafety. 113.