Advances in plant molecular biotechnology do not merely mean that farmers and research scientists alike can now contemplate a more than adequate harvest from newly sown crops. During the last decade, transgenic plants have been shown to provide a practical and feasible method of producing recombinant proteins. This technology has now progressed to the point where plants can be used as a platform for the expression of proteins intended for use in the treatment, or diagnosis, of a number of diseases. Such proteins include recombinant antibodies, cytokines and blood substitutes.This research area—the combination of molecular biotechnology and agriculture, which is referred to as ‘molecular farming’—focuses on producing valuable proteins in plants, and forms the subject of the following contributions to this handbook. Drawing on expertise from both industry and academia, we present reviews of both the plant species and strategies that are being used to transfer molecular farming from the research laboratory to the field.
It is widely predicted that the world capacity for recombinant protein production will soon be exceeded by the demand and that this demand will continue to increase. Yet, the justification for the use of plants for recombinant protein production may not be immediately obvious. While transgenic cell lines, animals and microbes will continue to have significant roles to play as expression hosts for recombinant pharmaceuticals, the future role of plants should not be underestimated. One reason for this is that plants constitute a mass-production platform that can be used for the economical, large-scale production of proteins for industrial use in processes that were previously unaffordable. This makes them particularly relevant for the production of the recombinant proteins that will be required to treat the diseases we shall be challenged by in the 21st century.
Molecular farming is a fast-developing research area where fundamental research into protein expression and purification is coupled to the practicalities of plant growth and harvesting. This is reflected in the following contributions of how to express proteins, where to express them and how to choose the most appropriate host plant for protein expression. At present, there is no consensus on either the ideal expression method or choice of species, which has, therefore, to be determined empirically in individual cases. It should be emphasised that crops producing recombinant proteins have been in commercial production since 1997 (see Chapter 41) and crops producing recombinant therapeutics have already entered clinical trials (see Chapter 40). The development of edible vaccines using plants, as described by Mor and Mason (see Chapter 39), will have a great impact on world health and protection from disease. It is certain that the impact of molecular farming will increase as the technique develops both scientifically and commercially.
Below, we briefly introduce the contributions to this section and focus on what we regard as the most interesting issues covered in each review.
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