Plantibody

Passive immunization is a medical strategy long employed to provide temporary protection against pathogens. Early implementations involved recovering ostensibly cell-free plasma from the blood of human survivors or from non-human animals deliberately exposed to a specific pathogen or toxin. These approaches resulted in crude purifications of plasma-soluble proteins including antibodies.

Antibodies (also known as an immunoglobulins) are complex proteins produced by vertebrates

A plantibody is an antibody that is produced by plants that have been genetically engineered with animal DNA encoding a specific human antibody known to neutralize a particular pathogen or toxin. The transgenic plants produce antibodies that are similar to their human counterparts, and following purification, plantibodies can be administered therapeutically to acutely ill patients or prophylactically to at-risk individuals (such as healthcare workers). The term plantibody and the concept are trademarked by the company Biolex.

Production

A plantibody is produced by insertion of genes encoding antibodies into a transgenic plant. The plantibodies are then modified by intrinsic plant mechanisms (N-glycosylation).

Advantages

Transgenic plants offer an attractive method for large-scale production of antibodies for immunotherapy.

Applications

Antibodies generated by plants are cheaper, easier to manage, and safer to use than those obtained from animals.

Medical

The main reason plants are being used to produce antibodies is for treatment of illnesses such as immune disorders, cancer, and inflammatory diseases, given the fact that the plantibodies also have no risk of spreading diseases to humans.

Commercial

Plantibodies are close to passing clinical trials and becoming approved commercially because of key points.

Outlook

Commercial use is not yet legalized