PRODUCTION OF EDIBLE VACCINES FOR ORAL IMMUNIZATION IN TRANSGENIC PLAIITS CURRENT AND FUTURE
This review highlights the recent advances made in the use oftransgenic plants as biofactories for the production of edible vaccines and its long term potentid with demonstrated utility to the medical community. The use oftransgenic plants to express orally immunogenic protein antigen is an ernerging strategy for vaccine production. Foods under study include legumes, potatoes, banan4 tobacco, rice, wheat soybean and com. This concept has particular suitability for developing countries. Although, the first human clinical trials for edible vaccine have been perforn.red recently, many challenges including maximization of expressign levels, stabilization during post hanest storage, remain to be met. Public acceptance of edible"vaccines is highly variable on the globil scale, and similar issues of social acceptance will influence the commercial feasibility ofa plant made vaccine. Edible vaccines can be improved for their oral immunogenecity by the use of appropriate adjuvant which could be used either as a fusion to the candidate gene or as an independent gene. Concern about immune tolerance and allergy to edible vaccines has been expressed and needs to be addressed suitably. The production ofantigenic proteins in genetically engineered plants provide an inexpensive source of edible vaccines, in tum, increases the vatue of plants as novel sources of medicinal drugs. Therefore, one would perhaps expect edible vaccines from transgenic plants to be safer than their counterparts derived from animal based sources, which have the potential for contamination with human pathogens.