|
Through the process of bio-pharming, plants get modified into ‘recombinant ’
proteins that can be therapeutics, vaccines, blood substitutes, enzymes or
diagnostics. The expression of these compounds may occur in part of the
organism, eg in the seed of a corn crop, or in the milk of a cow. International
research has found there are currently around 95 approved bio-pharmaceuticals in
use for the treatment of various human diseases, including diabetes mellitus,
growth disorders, neurological and genetic maladies, inflammatory conditions and
blood dyscrasis. Commonly biopharmed crops include rice,corn and tobacco leaves.
Though biotechnologists think that biopharming risks are manageable, critics
question the benefits, and say there are still risks of contaminated and toxic
food supply. Plant-made pharmaceuticals Producing pharmaceuticals in plants is
much more flexible than current methods, because production can be more easily
scaled up or down depending on demand. Plant-made pharmaceuticals can be
produced at a significantly reduced cost compared to current production methods.
Therefore, the
technology has the potential to benefit medical patients by providing cheaper
source of vaccines and other medicines as against the genetically engineered or
patented drugs.
The
other alternative is to grow these drugs in self pollinating crops(e.g.corn)
whose pollen would not get transferred to the other crops/fields.
Issues/concerns in growing pharma plants
The
concern regarding the growing of pharmaceutical crops is that it is riskier than
making drugs in factories. They know that the plants contain potentially toxic
drugs and chemicals, and because they look like ordinary crops, they can be
mistaken for food, both before and after harvest. There are certain health
issues that have also not been dealt with satisfactorily.
The
major concern is that bio-pharm crops and their products are virtually
indistinguishable from edible varieties. Hence, it is of utmost importance that
to keep bio-pharm plants,pollen and seeds confined to the fields where they are
planted. Otherwise, they may contaminate other crops, wild relatives and the
environment.
Some
of the other issues that have not been addressed properly are related to the
dosage of the vaccines that will be administered through fruits (see box).
|GenenewsHome| |
NEEM RECREATED IN
LAB: A British team
headed by Steven V. Ley at the
University
of Cambridge has reported the first synthesis of azadirachtin,a natural compound
that stops predatory insects from feeding. Plants have a variety of defence
mechanisms to deter insect attack. One such compound is azadirachtin, which was
first isolated from the neem tree (also known as the Indian lilac)in 1968.The
name of this natural product is derived from the botanical name of the plant,
Azadiracta indica .Azadirachtin is a highly active substance that inhibits the
development of the larvae of a broad spectrum of destructive insects but is
harmless to mammals and beneficial insects, such as bees and ladybugs. Ley
expects that using the successful synthetic route will allow the development of
simpler derivatives of azadirachtin that are stable and may lead to a new
generation of environmentally acceptable insecticides.
SHAPE OF PROTEIN STRUCTURES TO COME: By exploiting millions of hours of
computing time donated by the users of 150,000 home computers, scientists at the
University of Washington in Seattle have predicted the structure of a protein
using just its sequence of amino acids.The project marks a significant advance
in a field that's been short on tangible results.The reshaped protein should
elicit antibodies that attack the virus more effectively than antibodies created
after infection. The days
when
protein modellers thought they could make crystallisation obsolete are long
gone.But melding the two techniques could offer biologists insight into many
more proteins--and faster.
|Continue... |
