Molecular farming is a new technology that uses plants to produce large quantities ofpharmaceutical substances such as vaccines and antibodies. It relies on the same method
used to produce genetically modified (GM) crops – the artificial introduction of genes intoplants.A number of vaccines, antibodies and other therapeutic substances made in plants such as tobacco, maize, potato and carrot are already commercially available or in advanced clinicaltrials. Producing pharmaceuticals in plants is easy and efficient compared to conventionalproduction methods.Typically, animal or microbial cell cultures are used to produce vaccines but costs associatedwith maintenance, safety; storage and transport are 80% higher compared to plant-derivedvaccines.
