permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [SANET-MG] pharm crops soon to be approved  for commercial release
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 21:54:36 -0500
From: joe cummins <jcummins@UWO.CA>
To: SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU

Pharm Crops the production of pharmaceutical proteins (called
biologicals) in plants have been a concern worldwide as the production
of such biologicals in food or feed crops would lead to contamination of
foods and feeds with drugs consumed whether you need them or not.
However, the production of biologicals in plants grown under laboratory
conditions under high security is economic and a desirable approach. The
first of such plant based biologicals has completed clinical testing and
will be released later this month. The drug to be released is an enzyme
produced from a human gene will be used to treat Gaucher's disease a
recessive gene that causes severe symptoms of many organs including the
brain. The drug is being produced using carrot cells grown in liquid
culture. The carrot cwlls are grown in large disposable plastic bags fed
by clean water and nutrients. A second plant based biological drug
Locteron, an interferon alpha made using the clonal aquatic plant.
Lemna.The drug is used to treat Hepatitis C. That drug is midway through
clinical trials.
Biologicals are a growing and significant part of global drug
production. Plant based biologiicals are not undesirable so long as they
are not produced in food or feed crops, The laboratory controlled plant
based production is acceptable but biologicals grown in field crops
should not be allowed, However, a number of expensive field tests have
been undertaken one of which ended in disaster.
Nature ReVIewS Drug Discovery VoLUme 10 Feb. 2011 page 81
‘Pharmers’ hope for first plant drug harvest An approval by the US Food
and Drug Administration later this month for Protalix/Pfizer’s
plant-derived human therapeutic protein taliglucerase alfa would mark a
first for ‘pharmers’.