4. Production of edible vaccines

Transgenic plants provide an alternative system for the production of recombinant vaccines. The major advantage of vaccine production in plants is the direct use of edible plants tissue for oral administration. By the use of edible vaccines the problems associated with the purification of vaccines can be avoided. The stable or transient expression system can be used to produce vaccines in plants. Transgenic plants have been developed for expressing antigens derived from animal viruses. The need for use of edible vaccines comes from the fact that larger numbers of people are the victims of enteric diseases. Edible vaccine provides mucosal immunity against infectious agents. Some of the edible vaccines are mentioned in Table 41.2.  

Table 41.2: Examples of plant edible subunit vaccines

 

4.1. Choice of plants for edible vaccines

Most of the vaccines production was carried out in tobacco plant that is not edible. These vaccines are now being produced in edible plants such as banana, tomato and potato. For use in animals the common fodder crops are used. Banana is an ideal system for the production of edible vaccine since it is grown in most part of the world and eaten raw.