Molecular farming refers to producing valuable proteins and metabolites in plants, leveraging existing agricultural practices. This technique has evolved significantly since the late 1980s, resulting in products such as therapeutic proteins and edible vaccines derived from various plant species. Despite its advantages, molecular farming raises concerns regarding gene flow, food safety, and bio-safety legislation.

1. MOLECULAR FARMING
SUNIL KUMAR M

2. DEFINITION
"Molecular farming" is the production of
proteins or other metabolites valuable to
medicine or industry in plants traditionally
used in an agricultural setting.
Molecular farming is the production of
pharmaceutically important and
commercially valuable proteins in plants
(Franken et al., 1997).

3. BRIEF HISTORY
Year Development Reference
1986 First plant -derived recombinant
therapeutic protein- human GH in
tobacco & sunflower
A. Barta, D.Thompson et al.,
1989 First plant -derived recombinant
antibody –full-sized IgG in tobacco.
A. Hiatt, K. Bowdish
1990 First native human protein produced
in plants –human serum albumin in
tobacco & potato.
P. C. Sijmons et al.
1992 First plant derived vaccine
candidate –hepatitis B virus surface
antigen in tobacco
H. S. Meson, D. M. Lam
1995 Secretory IgA produced in tobacco. J. K. Ma, A. Hiatt, M. Hein et al.
1996 First plant derived protein polymer-
artificial elastin in tobacco
X. Zhang, D.W. Urry, H. Daniel

4. BRIEF HISTORY
Year Development Reference
1997 First clinical trial using recombinant
bacterial antigen delivered in a
transgenic potato
C. O.Tacket et al.
1997 Commercial production of avidin in
maize
E. E. Hood et al.
2000 Human GH produced in tobacco
chloroplast
J. M. Staub et al.
2003 Expression and assembly of a
functional antibody
in algae.
S. P. Mayfield, S. E. Franklin et
al.
2003 Commercial production of bovine
trypsin in maize.
S. L.Woodard et al.

5. WHY PLANTS
According to Horn et al., 2004
 Significantly lower production costs than with
transgenic animals, fermentation or bioreactors;
 Infrastructure and expertise already exists for the
planting, harvesting and processing of plant
material;
 Plants do not contain known human pathogens
(such as virions, etc.)That could contaminate the
final product;
 Plant cells can direct proteins to environments
that reduce degradation and therefore increase
stability.

6. SOME OF PLANTS USED FOR
BIOPHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTION
Sl No Category Plants used
1 Model plant Arabidopsis thaliana
2 Leafy crops Tobacco, lettuce, alfalfa, clover
3 Cereals Maize, rice, wheat, barley
4 Legumes Soybean, pea, pigeon pea
5 Fruits and vegetables Potato, carrot, tomato, banana
6 Oil crops Oilseed Rape Seed, Camelina sativa
7 Simple plants Lemna sp. Physcomitrella patens, Marchantia
polymorpha, Chlamidomonas reinhardtii
Sibila Jelaska et al. 2005

9. RECOMBINANT PROTIENS EXPRESSED
IN PLANTS
According to Horn et al., 2004
 ParentalTherapeutics and Pharmaceutical
Intermediates
 Antibody in plants
 EdibleVaccines
 Industrial proteins

13. EDIBLE VACCINES
 Concept of edible vaccine got impetus after
expression of hepatitis B surface antigen in
tobacco plants (Mason et al., 1992)
 The first reported edible vaccine was a
surface protein from streptococcus expressed
in tobacco leaves. (Mason and Arntzen, 1995)

14. Examples of edible vaccines
Vaccines Vector used Disease /conditions for
which it is used
Hepatitis B Virus Tobacco, Potato, Lettuce Hepatitis B
Norwalk virus Tobacco, Potato Diarrhoea, Nausea,
Rabies virus Tabacco Rabies
Transmissible
gastroenteritis
Corona virus
Tobacco, Maize Gastroenteritis
Rabbit hemorrhagic
disease virus
Potato Hemorrhage
HIV virus Tomato AIDS
Vibrio cholerae Potato Cholera
Neeraj et al. (2008)

15. RISKS, CONCERNS AND ISSUES
 potential gene flow to weeds or related crops
through pollination or seed contamination
(Horn et al., 2004).
 PDMs accidentally entering the food chain
and being consumed by non-target
organisms (Breyer et al., 2012).
 A major concern for many developing
countries is the lack of bio-safety legislation
for genetically modified plants (Salehi, 2012).

16. Conclusion

17. References
 Breyer, D, De Schrin, Gossens, M., Pauwels, K.,
Heeman, P. (2012) Biosafety of molecular farming in
GM plants. Springer. 259-274.
 Franken, E.,Teuschel, U. And Hain, R. (1997)
Recombinant Proteins from trangenic plants. Curr.
Opin. Biotech.Vol. 7 : 171-181.
 Horn, M. E.,Woodard, S. L and Howard J. A (2004).
Plant molecular farming: systems and products.
Plant Cell. Rep.Vol. 22: 711-720.
 Jelaska S, Mihaljeric S and Bauer N. (2005).
Production of biopharmaceuticals, antibodies and
edible vaccines in transgenic plants. Current studies
of biotechnology.Vol. 4.

18. References
 Mason H. S., and Arntzen, C. J. (1995).Transgenic plants as
vaccine production systems.Trends Biotechnol.Vol. 13.
388-392.
 Mason H. S., Lam D. M. K., and Arntzen C. J. (1992).
Expression of Hepatitis B surface antigen in transgenic
plants. Proc. Wall. Acad. Sci. USA.Vol. 89, 11747-11749.
 Neeraj M., Prem N. G., Kapil K, Amit K. G., and Suresh P.V.,
(2008). Edible vaccines: A new approach to oral
immunization. Ind. Jor. Of Biotech.Vol. 7. 283-294.
 Rishi A. S, Nelson N. D, Goyal A. (2001) Molecular Farming
in plants: A current perspective. Journal of plant
biotechnology and biochemistry.Vol. 10(1). p. 1-12.
 Salehi J. G., (2012) Risk assessment of GM crops; regulation
and science. Boisafety. 113.