[ad_1]
When a person thinks about vaccines, they often imagine the long needle of a syringe before a slight pinch on the arm, followed by a day of pain as they recover.
That may soon change if researchers at the University of California at Riverside (UCR) are successful in their attempt to deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology via edible plants.
They hope they can grow vegetables capable of delivering vaccines with the same technology used to develop the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
Plants might be more easily digested than a vaccine injection, and transport and storage will also be easier because vaccine injections must be stored at very cold temperatures to avoid spoilage.
If successful, these plants could be a boon to low-income countries as they are easier to store and transport than doses of Covid vaccines.
UC Riverside researchers are developing a way to insert mRNA into a plant’s chloroplasts to deliver vaccines orally via edible vegetables (file photo)
The mRNA technology used in Pfizer and Moderna injections – and potentially in plants – has been around for a long time but was rarely used in medicine until recently.
It works by providing instructions to the body on how to form advanced proteins that fuel Covid infection.
Once a person’s immune system detects the protein, it will fight it off and form immunity to the proteins if they reappear in a person’s body through exposure to the virus.
Companies are now working to apply this technology to other vaccines, including the annual flu shot.
Juan Pablo Giraldo (photo) is leading the research and says he thinks it could “have a huge impact on people’s lives”
“Ideally, a single plant would produce enough mRNA to vaccinate a single person,” Juan Pablo Giraldo, senior researcher and associate professor in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at UCR, said in a statement.
“We are testing this approach with spinach and lettuce and have a long-term goal for people to grow it in their own gardens.
“Farmers could also cultivate entire fields. ”
Researchers believe that the chloroplasts in cells can carry genes that are not usually part of the plant.
This trait means that this part of the plant has a lot of potential.
“These are tiny solar-powered factories that produce sugar and other molecules that allow the plant to thrive,” Giraldo said.
“They are also an untapped source for making desirable molecules.”
The team is working to find the ideal way to deploy mRNA material into chloroplasts in a way that won’t destroy it.
If successful, Covid vaccines, and other vaccines that use mRNA technology, can be administered orally.
It would also allow a vaccine that can be much more easily transported over long distances.
Current mRNA vaccines should be stored at temperatures as low as -130f (-90C) and require the use of dry ice.
This can make transporting vaccines long distances both difficult and expensive, and can particularly affect access to vaccines in rural or remote areas of the United States.
Third world countries are also affected, as many may not have the resources to transport and store the vaccines needed for distribution across the country.
Instead, the plants can be grown and easily transported long distances or even overseas, easily using the technology that already exists to distribute the products around the world.
“I am very excited about all of this research,” Giraldo said.
“I think it could have a huge impact on people’s lives.”
Currently in the United States, about 64% of the total population has received at least one injection of a COVID-19 vaccine and 54% is fully vaccinated.
These figures are much lower globally, however, with 44% of the world’s population having received at least one injection and 32% being fully immunized.
[ad_2]
Source link