Molecular farming
- Submission status
- Open
- Submission deadline
Molecular farming refers to the use of plants as biofactories to produce pharmaceuticals with value, such as viral particles, enzymes, antibodies, and others, through genome engineering. When compared with alternative systems, such as bacteria or animal cells, plants or plant cell cultures allow the scale up of production in a cost-effective manner, without requiring complex technology. Plants can additionally open doors to the development of edible pharmaceuticals, facilitating global supply. Motivated by recent increased demand for vaccines and advances in pharmaceutical production, there has been a renewed interest in molecular farming as a promising source of compounds of interest. Though stage II/III clinical trials for pharmaceuticals produced in plants are already ongoing, the range of compounds currently in the market is still limited and challenges remain regarding yield and public acceptance.
This Collection invites original research on the potential of plants and algae as biofactories to produce added value compounds, from the heterologous expression and characterization of proteins or small molecules, to innovative purification methods.
