Microbiology (Biotechnology)

Edible vaccines

Vaccination is a disease preventive measure , where the immune system of a person is boosted against a particular disease (Behbehani , 445 Disease prevention could either be acquired via challenging the immune system with attenuated strains of the disease maker or passive by receiving antibody against the disease pathogen (Wolfe , 430 Vaccination generally falls under the category of acquired immunity Initially live pathogens at lower doses were used as vaccines to prevent the disease (example : small pox , followed by usage of attenuated strains of pathogen to produce immune response against

the disease (example : BCG vaccine used in the treatment of tuberculosis . In recent days , various other vaccine strategies like DNA vaccine (gene shot ) and edible vaccines are being developed

Edible vaccines are a new breakthrough in the field of vaccine administration . In these vaccines , a gene specific for an antigen causing disease is cloned into a vector which is then introduced into the plant forming transgenic plants expressing the antigen in low levels . When these transgenic plants are consumed they are they confer protection against the disease caused by the introduced antigen which is similar to a regular vaccine (Thanavala , 3358 . A diagrammatic representation of steps involved in the production of edible vaccine is included as supplementary figure . These edible vaccines can cut the cost of vaccine production and increase to ease of vaccine administration thus making it more affordable in developing countries ( HYPERLINK "http /www .nexgenbiotech .com " www .nexgenbiotech .com . A recent example of edible vaccine under trial...