Originally published June 19 2005
Researchers grow SARS vaccine in tomatoes
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Mice who were fed genetically altered tomatoes by U.S. researchers developed antibodies to SARS, the corona virus that killed nearly 800 people in 2003.
American researchers have managed to grow a SARS vaccine in genetically engineered tomatoes, reporting that mice fed the tomatoes developed antibodies to the coronavirus that killed nearly 800 people in 2003.
Their findings, published today in the medical journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, drew interest from others in the scientific community.
"There's still a long way to go between knowing whether this is a promising lead and conducting further research, or whether other forms of technology would be more likely to be useful," said Dr. Bob Brunham, director of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.
Dr. Brunham noted the scientists, from Thomas Jefferson University's Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories, reported only that the mice fed the vaccine-filled tomatoes developed antibodies.
They did not report on whether they "challenged" the mice with the virus to see if those antibodies were the type needed to actually protect against the disease.
The notion of growing vaccine in plants -- rather than in animal cells or eggs, as is currently the industry norm -- dates back to 1992.
Biologist Charles Arntzen proposed the idea of genetically modifying bananas to serve as cheap, edible vaccines to protect against a range of infectious diseases.
Others have taken up the notion, including renowned virologist Dr. Hilary Koprowski, lead author of this work.
However, there would be no way to guarantee that each fruit or vegetable contained enough antigen to provoke immunity, nor would there be any way of ensuring the person ate the whole dose.
So, any antigen-containing produce would likely be freeze-dried and ground into a powder to be turned into capsules or tablets.
The researchers envisage vaccines that could be taken like a dietary supplement, cheaply produced and stored for long periods without degrading.
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