Molecular farming in plants: synthesis of novel biomaterials Shah S1,*, Yadav VK2, singh AV1, kumar VA1 1GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Hill Campus Ranichauri, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand -249 199, India. 2Department of Crop improvement, GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Hill Campus Ranichauri, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand -249 199, India. *E mail: drshachishah@gmail.com.
Abstract Molecular farming represents a novel source of biomaterials or plant derived products of interest (PPIs), such as biopharmaceuticals (anticoagulants, hormones, protein/peptide inhibitors, recombinant enzymes, therapeutic and diagnostic antibodies, edible vaccines for domestic animals or humans (e.g. hepatitis B), as well as industrial enzymes, biodegradable plastics and lubricant oils. Plants are considered ideal candidates as host systems because of several features, such as ease of transformation, low cost of investment, dispersed capital requirements, rapid scale-up, high and controlled level of expression, and capability of performing posttranslational modifications. A major advantage of transgenic plants for molecular farming is the comparatively low cost of large scale production. However, while access to healthcare remains limited in much of the world and the scientific community is struggling with complex diseases such as HIV and malaria, plant derived vaccines represent an alluring prospect. Above all, social acceptance of this technology in the developing countries will govern commercial achievability of this technology However, several constraints that hinder the widespread use of plants as bioreactors remain to be addressed. Important factors include quality and homogeneity of the final product, the challenge of processing plant-derived pharmaceutical macromolecules under good manufacturing practice conditions and concerns about bio-safety. Molecular farming in plants will only realize its huge potential if these constraints are removed through rigorous and detailed science-based studies. As molecular farming has come of age, there have been technological developments on many levels, including transformation methods, control of gene expression, protein targeting and accumulation and the use of different crops as production platforms. Top Keywoards PPIs, Transgenic plant, plant-made pharmaceutical, recombinant protein, therapeutic protein. Top |