Plants Will Be Turned into Vaccine Factories for Polio

When a virus outbreak kicks in, time is not on the side of the medical staff. That’s because every second is important, but there are numerous production, logistical, and financial issues that delay the victory. However, a team of scientists proposed a solution. Their idea is to turn plants into synthetic vaccine factories. This way, the costs are kept to a minimum while the manufacturing part is working unceasingly.

Scientists Managed to Make Plants Produce a Poliovirus-Like Particle that Trains the Immune System

Colleagues at the John Innes Centre in Norfolk claim that they managed to override plants to produce synthetic polio vaccine. This project has the potential to pioneer the drug manufacturing industry. That’s because today’s slow, expensive process can become a quick, cheap, and hassle-free procedure.

This method alone could eradicate polio from the face of the Earth once and for all. Not only that, but the bio factories could also be hijacked to help authorities move quickly whenever there is an outbreak of Ebola, Zika, or other viruses.

These small, green factories are capable of creating a particle that acts as an anti-virus. The result is similar to today’s poliovirus. However, the difference is that this special particle lacks the necessary content to create an infection inside the victim. On the other hand, the cure has the necessary attributes to train the immune system against such threats.

Plants Were Turned into Green Vaccine Factories and Protected Animals against the Virus

Scientists used a relative to the tobacco plant to turn them into proper vaccine factories. They recreated the genetic code they needed to replicate the surface of poliovirus. They enhanced the formula with fabric from viruses that actually attack plants. Afterward, they infected the soil with the result which ended up eventually in the internal system of the plant.

From here on the plants acted on their own. They read the instructions they received and used them to produce the life-saving particles. Scientists harvested the infected plants and blended them with water. The final step was to extract the vaccine from the mixture. Scientists inoculated animals with the composition which were able to reject the virus in their turn.

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About June Harris

June was born and raised in Ligonier, a small historic town in Pennsylvania. She befriended TV cameras at an early age when she was selected to feature in a local TV series for children. Her passion for entertainment grew bigger after June was named Miss Pennsylvania at 16 years old. She was co-opted in various projects ever since and is now a strong promoter of fitness and health activities.