Edible Vaccines: An Overview
Lalita R. Varshney
Department of life science and Biotechnology, University of Mumbai, Kalina Campus, santacruz (East), Mumbai-400 098, India; Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research center, Trombay, Mumbai-400 085, India
Jagdish S. Nair
Department of life science and Biotechnology, University of Mumbai, Kalina Campus, santacruz (East), Mumbai-400 098, India; Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research center, Trombay, Mumbai-400 085, India
Dayanand A. Bhiwgada
Department of life science and Biotechnology, University of Mumbai, Kalina Campus, santacruz (East), Mumbai-400 098, India; Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research center, Trombay, Mumbai-400 085, India
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Plants are important renewable resource commodities and transgenic plants expressing foreign protein of industrial or pharmaceutical use represent an economical alternative to fermentation-based production systems. There is an increasing demand for cheap vaccine worldwide, especially in the economically under-developed countries. A promising concept is the production of specific vaccine in plants as a result of stable or transient expression of foreign genes. Expression of antigens in edible plant parts leads to manufacture of edible active vaccines.
Keywords: Antigen, Edible vaccine, Gene expression, Transgenic plants