Plant expressed vaccine
Encyclopedia
Plant expressed vaccine or project GreenVax In 2000, a patented entitled Vaccines expressed in plants was issued. In 2005 DARPA’s Accelerated Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals (AMP) program was created In response to emerging and novel biologic threats. In 2009 DARPA offered a government contract for a Non-GMO
Genetically modified food
Genetically modified foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms . Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques...

 plant-based systems expressing recombinant proteins, due to The 2009 H1N1 swine flu
Swine flu
Swine influenza, also called pig influenza, swine flu, hog flu and pig flu, is an infection by any one of several types of swine influenza virus. Swine influenza virus or S-OIV is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs...

 pandemic that highlighted the national need for rapid and agile vaccine manufacturing capabilities. The Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...

 and a Texas company have been awarded a $40 million U.S. Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 grant to develop a plant expressed vaccine made from tobacco, egg-based vaccines typically take at least six months to develop once a virus is isolated, the new process will take four to six weeks., "If this works, we'll have a billion-dose-per-month vaccine facility in Texas, which would be by far the largest and most capable center in the world."
The plant-based vaccine production method works by isolating a specific antigen protein, one that triggers a human immune response from the targeted virus. A gene from the protein is transferred to bacteria, which are then used to “infect” plant cells. The plants then start producing the exact protein that will be used for vaccinations. The flexibility of the plant expressed vaccine system, combined with its low cost and ability to massively scale, may provide vaccine protection not only to citizens of the United States, but to many parts of the world that cannot currently afford vaccines. Other uses of plant expressed vaccines including the successful creation of edible bananas that protect against the Norwalk virus.
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