The Potential Impact of Plant-made Biopharmaceuticals for the Improvement of Global Health

Abstract

established that a large number of infectious diseases utilize the mucosal membrane within the gut to enter the body; therefore vaccines which can be expressed within edible plant tissue offer a select advantage. As a result, plant cells not only act as the delivery vehicle itself, they protect the antigen as it passes through the harsh environment of the gastrointestinal tract. The fact that plants can produce recombinant antigens that undergo post-translational modifications which are largely similar to their mammalian-derived counterparts provides