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Scientists at the University of California at Riverside will study how to turn plants into “mRNA vaccine factories,” the school announced last week.
The National Science Foundation (NSF), which is partly funded by the federal government and established by Congress in 1950, awarded the school a grant of $ 500,000 in August. The aim of the study is to find a way to “grow edible plants that contain the same drug as an mRNA vaccine,” the WFLA reported on Saturday.
“Ideally, a single plant would produce enough mRNA to vaccinate a single person,” Juan Pablo Giraldo said in a statement. He is an associate professor in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at UCR and directs the research.
The study would be carried out in collaboration with scientists from UC San Diego and Carnegie Mellon University.
The portrait of Hungarian-American scientist Katalin Kariko is seen on a firewall in Budapest on August 28, 2021, amid the ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. The pioneering work of Kariko and American immunologist Drew Weissman on mRNA paved the way for Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines against the coronoavirus. (ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP via Getty Images)
“We are testing this approach with spinach and lettuce and have long term goals for people to grow it in their own gardens,” he continued. “Farmers could also cultivate entire fields. “
Overall, the project has three objectives, depending on the school:
- Show that DNA containing mRNA vaccines can be successfully delivered to the part of plant cells where it will replicate
- demonstrating that plants can produce enough mRNA to compete with a traditional shot
- determine the correct dosage.
Turning mRNA vaccines into edible plants is a solution to the challenge of always keeping mRNA vaccines cold during transport – plant-based mRNA vaccines could ideally be stored at room temperature.
Giraldo said chloroplasts are the key to making edible mRNA vaccines – “small organs in plant cells that convert sunlight into energy that the plant can use.”
“These are tiny solar-powered factories that produce sugar and other molecules that allow the plant to thrive,” he said. “They are also an untapped source for making desirable molecules.”
King Philippe – Filip of Belgium (L) listens to the explanations on the SKID LNP (Lipid Nano Particle) machine during a visit to the Pfizer / BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine production site in Puurs on March 30, 2021. The pharmaceutical group Pfizer completes its mRNA vaccine at the site before shipping the vials to 176 countries around the world. (STEPHANIE LECOCQ / Belga / AFP via Getty Images)
In the past, Giraldo has been able to show that chloroplasts can express genes that are not naturally part of the plant. For this project, he is working with UC San Diego nanotechnology professor Nicole Steinmetz to “use nanotechnologies designed by his team that will provide genetic material to chloroplasts,” according to the school.
“Our idea is to reuse natural nanoparticles, namely plant viruses, for the delivery of genes to plants,” said Steinmetz. “A little bit of engineering goes into it to get the nanoparticles to go to the chloroplasts and also to make them non-infectious to plants.”
The $ 500,000 mRNA project is slated to begin on January 1, 2022 and end in December 2023, according to the NSF Grants Database.
Giraldo is also co-leading a related project using nanomaterials to deliver nitrogen, a fertilizer, directly to chloroplasts, where plants need it most. The NSF granted Giraldo and his colleagues $ 1.6 million “to develop this targeted nitrogen delivery technology.”
“I am very excited about all of this research,” Giraldo said. “I think it could have a huge impact on people’s lives. “
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