Elementary plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology (2+1)

Future Trends

 
• Molecular Pharming or Biopharming is the rapidly evolving transgenic technology and it can be simply defined as production of pharmaceutical compounds using recombinant microbes / plants / animals.


• The concept of biopharming is not new. Many common medicines, such as codeine, morphine, bulk laxatives, and the anticancer drugs such as taxol and vincristine have long been purified from plants. But biopharming’s great promise lies in using genetic modification i.e., techniques to make wild (nontransformed) plants to do drastic new things. Genetic modification has been applied to plants for decades in order to improve their nutritional value and agronomic traits (yield, pest- and drought-resistance, etc.). The production of high value-added substances through gene manipulation is a logical, straightforward extension.


• Biopharming offers tremendous advantages over traditional methods for producing pharmaceuticals. There is great potential for reducing the costs of production. The energy for product synthesis comes from the sun, and the primary raw materials are water and carbon dioxide. And if it becomes necessary to expand production, it is much easier to plant a few additional hectares than to build a new bricks-and-mortar manufacturing facility. Another major advantage is that vaccines produced in this way will be designed to be heat-stable so that no refrigeration chain from manufacturer to patient will be required. This would have a great application in developing countries, especially in the tropics and throughout Asia and Africa.


• Globally, several companies are involved in biopharming, about half have products in clinical trials, and at least one biopharmed medical diagnostic is being sold. The spectrum of products is broad, ranging from the prevention of tooth decay and the common cold to treatments for cancer and cystic fibrosis. In April 2008, California-based Ventria Bioscience (www.ventria.com) reported favorable clinical results with two human proteins biopharmed in rice and used to treat pediatric diarrhea.