Genetically modified potato and rice based edible vaccines – An overview

ABSTRACT

The current pandemic has made us realize the importance of efficient and large-scale vaccine production and distribution. Conventional vaccines have not only helped us overcome this pandemic but aided us in avoiding numerous pathogenic diseases. The production complexity and high cost of traditional vaccines have taken a toll on the world economy. Plant-derived vaccines serve to eliminate such concerns. Specifically, rice and potato being staple crops have been used extensively for the same. In this study, we have thoroughly reviewed the existing literature on rice and potato-derived edible vaccines. We have elaborated the studies performed by several researchers since 1995 for various diseases like dengue, cervical cancer, hepatitis B, diarrhea, cedar pollinosis, periodontitis, Japanese encephalitis etc. Although numerous plants such as banana, tomato, tobacco, lettuce, alfalfa, etc have been used for the production of edible vaccines, this review solely focuses on potato and rice based studies.