A European project is focusing on so-called molecular farming by integrating tobacco plants into research. The fact is that these plants make it possible to produce tailor-made molecules. However, this kind of technique could be very useful for producing the future vaccine against Covid-19.
Many teams of researchers are currently working on the development of a vaccine against Covid-19. No matter when it will be ready, a big challenge awaits the pharmaceutical industry in any case. Indeed, it will be necessary to produce this vaccine rapidly and in large quantities. As Euronews explains in a report from May 25, 2020 (see video at the end of the article), it will be a question of using sophisticated production techniques.
It turns out that these techniques are studied by the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plants in Valencia (Spain). This institute leads the European Newcotiana project, collaborating with scientists from several European countries but also from Australia. The fact is that different teams of researchers are working on the production of tailor-made molecules. This is made possible by tobacco plants that work as "bio-factories" . However, we are talking here about molecular farming, a discipline belonging to biotechnologies.
Scientists are interested in one species of tobacco in particular:the Nicotiana Benthamiana . It is a species native to Australia which is proving to be a model in plant biology, particularly in the field of host-pathogen interactions . This is already used in the production of vaccines and antibodies, particularly against the Ebola virus.
According to the project leaders, it is a question of forcing plants to manufacture substances that they do not usually produce. Researchers insert genetic material into the plant's genome that contains the information. And it is this information that will dictate to the plant what it must produce:antibodies, vaccines, etc. Thus, it is a question of modifying the genes of the plant by injecting special DNA-cutting enzymes. In other words, what we have here is a gene-editing technique not unlike the CRISPR-Cas9 genetic scissors.
The future will tell if this technique will make it possible to manufacture a vaccine against Covid-19. However, scientists seem confident. Here is the Euronews report presenting this project:
