Toward A Banana-based Vaccine For Hepatitis B

February 25, 2008

ScienceDaily (May 1, 2007) — Bananas have emerged as the best candidate to

deliver a bite-sized vaccine for hepatitis B virus (HBV) to millions of people

in developing countries, according to an article scheduled for the June 1 issue

of ACS' Biotechnology Progress, a bi-monthly journal co-published with the

American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

In the article, India's V. A. Bapat and colleagues update and review worldwide

research on efforts to genetically engineer plants as biofactories for the

production of vaccines. They focus on transferring genes to produce HBV vaccine,

noting that there already are 350 million carriers of hepatitis B worldwide,

with 1 million new cases annually. An estimated 75 million -100 million of those

infected individuals may die from liver cirrhosis or liver cancer as a result,

the article adds.

The authors explain that plant-based production of an oral hepatitis B vaccine

has economic and other advantages over the existing injectable vaccine.

Researchers so far have successfully engineered several plants -- including

banana, potato, lettuce, carrot, and tobacco -- to produce HBV vaccines. They

explain why banana appears to be the ideal production and delivery vehicle for

HBV vaccine, and the further research and development needed to exploit bananas

in the global battle against HBV.

Article: " Production of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen in Recombinant Plant

Systems: An Update " , Biotechnology Progress

Adapted from materials provided by American Chemical Society, via EurekAlert!, a

service of AAAS.

American Chemical Society (2007, May 1). Toward A Banana-based Vaccine For

Hepatitis B. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from

http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2007/04/070430224426.htm

_________________________________________________________________

Need to know the score, the latest news, or you need your Hotmail®-get your

" fix " .

Recommended Posts