plant tissue culture & genetics

Molecular Farming

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The commonly used term ‘molecular farming’ describes the large‐scale production of valuable proteins in transgenic plants, including antibodies, vaccines, other pharmaceuticals and industrial proteins. Compared to traditionally used systems such as microbial cultures, plants offer many advantages with respect to economy, quality and safety. The organism or material into which the new genetic information is inserted is often referred to as the expression system since it serves as the system for “expressing” the new product. Plant molecular farming is currently being pursued to address either the increased demand for proteins that cannot be produced in sufficient quantities in either microbial or animal cell cultures, or as a means to produce proteins that cannot be expressed in microbial or animal cell cultures. Vaccines are another area of research in molecular farming. Early-stage clinical trials have been completed on customized, patient-specific vaccines for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. These plant-produced vaccines can be generated in 6 to 10 weeks, a much shorter time frame than conventional methods These plant-produced vaccines can be generated in 6 to 10 weeks, a much shorter time frame than conventional methods. As mentioned previously, edible vaccines, although enthusiastically discussed in recent years, have virtually been abandoned.

The benefits of molecular farming have been demonstrated over the last 15 years through the sustained efforts of a growing number of European research groups, many of which have participated in the COST action “Molecular farming: plants as a production platform for high value protein