Plant-based vaccines are about to come

A group of researchers at Quebec claim that more work should be done to develop plant-based vaccines. Gary Kobinger has published a Perspective piece in the journal Science espousing the benefits of plant-based vaccines and suggesting how they might be made.

The researchers suggest that developing plant-based vaccines might be a very good approach. Vaccines are typically produced in bacterial systems, and they have proven to be very effective. However, they have high production costs. to the contrary, Plant-based vaccines, would be far cheaper to produce and could have several other benefits as well and they need less resource.

These vaccines could grow in a farm like crops they also can’t be infected with the types of human pathogens that lead to the need for vaccines. Also, prior research has shown that plant-based vaccines tend to produce a stronger immune response than those made in other ways. Furthermore, in some cases, plant-based vaccines could be administered directly as a food product, with no extracting or processing needed.

The scientists suggest that making plant-based vaccines is not unattainable. Just before the pandemic struck, a plant-based vaccine for influenza was made with promising results. And right now, one team is working on a plant-based vaccine for COVID-19. The scientists are authorized to work on plant-based vaccines since it’s known to have more benefits than a regular vaccine. 

Resource