African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 2 (12), pp. 679-683, December 2003

ISSN 1684-5315  © 2003 Academic Journals

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Green revolution vaccines, edible vaccines

Swamy Krishna Tripurani, N. S. Reddy and K. R. S. Sambasiva Rao*

Centre for Biotechnology, Nagarjuna university, Nagarjuna Nagar, Guntur-522510, A.P., India.

*Corresponding author. Phone: 91-863-2293400 (O), 91-863-2233433 (R). Fax: 91-863-2293378. Email: krssrao@yahoo.com.

Accepted 28 November 2003  

Edible vaccines are sub-unit vaccines where the selected genes are introduced into the plants and the transgenic plant is then induced to manufacture the encoded protein. Edible vaccines are mucosal-targeted vaccines where stimulation of both systematic and mucosal immune network takes place. Foods under study include potatoes, bananas, lettuce, rice, wheat, soybean, corn and legumes. Edible vaccines for various diseases such as measles, cholera, hepatitis-B, and many more are in the process of development. Food vaccines may also help to suppress autoimmunity disorders such as Type-1 Diabetes.

Key words: Edible vaccines, oral vaccines, antigen expression, food vaccines.